Historical Background: In Old Testament in versions of the Bible based on the Greek Septuagint, the Book of Judith is included with the Apocrypha in the Authorized and Revised Standard versions; it does not appear at all in the Hebrew Bible. This book, the work of an unknown author, is a fictitious account of the deliverance of Israel from a foreign army by Judith, the devout and beautiful heroine who first beguiled and then beheaded the Assyrian commander Holofernes. The book is dated to the Maccabean period in the 2d century BC. According to the story, Judith, and many of the daughters of Israel, where captured by the Assyrian King Holofernes who used them for his own pleasure. After being abused by Holofernes, Judith took matters into her own hands and while the king rested, she severed his head. Judith came to symbolize the defiance of the People of Israel in their quest for freedom in the ancient world. Artists of the 15th and 16th centuries often turned to Bible for themes for their artistic creations. The title of both paintings is Judith and Holofernes.
Renaissance Art Italian Northern
The Big Boys Italian Michelangelo Leonardo da Vinci Raphael Donatello Sandro Botticelli Titian Northern El Greco (both) Jan Van Eyck* Bosch Peter Brueghel the Elder Albrecht Dürer Hans Holbein the Younger
Italian Northern Specialty: Ideal BeautyIntense Realism Style: Simplified Forms; Measured Proportions Lifelike features; Unflattering honesty Subjects: Religious and mythical Religious and domestic
Italian Northern Figures: Heroic malesProsperous citizens Portraits: Formal; Reserved Reveal individual personality Basis of Art: TheoryObservation Emphasis: Anatomical structure Appearance
Van Eyck
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Botticelli: The Birth of Venus
Botticelli: Primavera
Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa
Da Vinci: Virgin of the Rocks
Michelangelo: Pieta
Michelangelo: The Creation
Titian: Venus of Urbino
Titian: The Three Ages of Man
The Rare female Artist: Sofonisba Anguissola The Chess Game Born and raised in the Lombardy region: predominantly a portrait painter: lived at the court in Spain.
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
Bruegel: Peasant Wedding
Bruegel: Adoration of the Kings
Holbein: Ambassadors
Holbein: The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb
Holbein: Henry VIII
Van Eyck: Crucifixion and the Last Judgement
Van Eyck: The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin