Judith draws a sword through the neck of the Assyrian general Holofernes, gripping his hair at arm's length, her brow creased between resolve and disgust. Her old maid Abra waits beside her. Caravaggio set the killing on a shallow stage lit from the side against black, and the picture shaped later versions by Artemisia Gentileschi. Its date is debated, between about 1599 and 1602.
Look closer
Compare Judith's smooth young face, probably modelled by the courtesan Fillide Melandroni, with the wrinkled profile of Abra beside her.
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Compared by a vision model
