Caravaggio was a very particular character: irascible and quarrelsome, he even killed a man. In his paintings is always visible an incredible violence, which is also the result of naturalism to which he was inspired. This oil painting on canvas is one of Caravaggio’s most famous works. Preserved at the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Rome, it is dated 1599. The subject of the work is the beheading of Holofernes, Assyrian leader, by the Jewess Judith, who wanted to save her people from foreign domination. What is most shocking is Judith’s face, only perplexed, testifying to the coldness with which she conceived the murderous act.
