Judith with the Head of Holofernes
by RUBENS, Peter Paul, Oil on canvas, 120 x 111 cm
From 1616 onwards Rubens was able to illustrate dramatic scenes with a reliance on Caravaggios’s sharp contrasts of light. This painting represents this aspect of Rubens’s work well.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 17 minutes):
Alessandro Scarlatti: La Giuditta, oratorio, Part I (excerpts)