Art Institute of Chicago

Judith Addressing the Elders of Bethulia, plate three from The Story of Judith and Holofernes

Philip Galle (Netherlandish, 1537-1612)

Date

1564

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Netherlands

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Since the Renaissance the biblical story of the wily widow Judith’s slaying of the Assyrian general Holofernes appeared in a multitude of artworks. Yet rarely has the narrative been shown in full. These Philip Galle engravings tell much more of the story, from the hatching of the diabolical Assyrian plot to conquer the Israelites to the moment Holofernes’s body is discovered. The members of the prolific Galle family of printmakers were effective at translating Maarten van Heemskerck’s heroically muscular style into print.

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