One of my colleagues went to the San Francisco Legion of Honor a while ago and told me she saw a painting that looked like me. That's random,
I thought, and I completely forgot about it until this week when she dug up a photo and showed it to me. She's right, it does sort of look like me, though I suspect my face would have a rather different expression if I had just seduced a man in order to cut off his head while he is drunk.
The painting is Portrait of a Lady of the Saxon Court as Judith with the Head of Holofernes, attributed to Hans Kranach, circa 1537-1540. You can also find it on the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco website.
I tried to do a little bit of research about the painter and the subject, but I wasn't terribly successful. I found the basic story of Judith, but I didn't find anything at all about Hans Cranach. On the other hand, I found a bunch of Judith paintings by Lucas Kranach the Elder, including my favorite, Judith mit dem Haupt des Holofernes. The paintings are so similar that I have to think the artists must be related, but I'm not sure what the connection is.
Check out these other versions:
- Judith with the Head of Holofernes by Lucas Cranach the Elder, circa 1530
- Judith with the Head of Holofernes by Lucas Cranach the Elder, circa 1530
I find the paintings' variations rather interesting. Some show more of the severed neck, some less; some face right and some left; the sleeve decorations vary quite a lot. Still, it's almost the same painting; the grayish head, the lady's face, her floppy hat, the gloves cut to show her rings, and even the white-and-black-striped panel on her bodice are completely consistent. It makes me wonder why Lucas painted the same thing so many times; was he unsatisfied with his results? Or was it such a popular subject that every nobleman wanted one?
And if anyone finds out how she severed a man's head without getting any blood on that gorgeous dress, let me know.