WELCOME FRIENDS, FAMILY & FACULTY!

This blog is an art history experiment for our Italian Renaissance travel course. We hope that you, our visitors, will not only take some time to read about what we are studying, but will ALSO feel free to make comments or ask us questions...especially after we see (most of) these things in person. As we travel, we will offer personal reflections on our experiences. After we fly out on the 17th, follow us as we visit Rome (May 18-20), Florence (20-24), and Venice (24-25). We return on Thursday, May 26...just in time for the holiday weekend.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Judith and Holofernes



Donatello’s Judith & Holofernes, 1446-60
Most likely commissioned for the Medici Palace (till Medici expulsion of 1494)
Placed in Palazzo dei Priori when Medici were removed
Allegory of Humility triumphing over Pride
Inscription read, the head of pride cut off by the hand of humility
Made with actual cloth modeled with thin clay coated in bronze
Judith is merciless, stepping on Holoferenes hand and privates having gashed open his neck and about to deal the final blow
Judith is depicted as a modesty composed heroine
The base depicts a scene of a wild party with wine 
Symbols of pride, medallion (Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride is their necklace) 


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