Comments on: Not knowing is killing me.

Question: Not knowing is killing me.

carsonb — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:42:41 -0800

Please help me name a painting. I have an old photocopy of a painting depicting a man being held on his back by two busty women. One of the women has a cloth wrapped around her head, and the other is slicing the man's neck open with a sword. What's it called? Who painted it?

I have no art-related vocabulary to describe it, aside from these:

- It is not abstract. The rendition is presumably faithful to reality.

- The word "Renaissance" pops into my head when I look at it, though I cannot tell you why.

The photocopy is extremely dark; I cannot make out a signature. There is no accompanying text on the photocopy.

By: Urban Hermit

Urban Hermit — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:50:45 -0800

It is almost certainly a depiction of Judith killing Holofernes. It could be the Caravaggio version, the Gentileschi version, or countless others. It is probably not this one (NSFW).

By: carsonb

carsonb — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:53:09 -0800

thank you! it was the Gentileschi.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:57:15 -0800

I feel kinda sheepish having a question answered so quickly and so definitively. thanks again, Urban Hermit.