Judy, Judy, Judy

Friends,

US News and World Report, you know the magazine with the hardon for college rankings, has put out a special section on The Women on the Bible (linked right there). Admittedly, I haven't read all of the articles, but I notice a glaring omission from their stories...Judith.

Now, maybe you don't know who Judith is, and that's understandable. Judith is in the Apocrypha (which is, essentially, the sanctioned director's cut version of the Bible for Catholics) and since we are, for the most part, a Protestant nation, it's not exactly a mystery as to why she's not common knowledge. But next time you find yourself in a museum with Renaissance artwork...look around carefully because I'll bet you one American dollar that somewhere in that museum there is at least one representation of Judith, with the head of Holoferenes. Like at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, if I remember correctly, there is at least four different depictions of the story of Judith (including a sculpture). I found one at the Met as well (picture to come later). She may not have been a favorite amongst the Renaissance types, but every major artist, even some of the minor ones did at least one piece depicting her story.

Here's a quick overview of the book of Judith from the website New Advent, and their Catholic Encyclopedia. My quick and dirty version of her story is as follows.

Nebacaneezer (spelling varies, but he's an Assyrian king) sent Holoferenes, a captain, with his batallion of Assyrians to capture Judith's village. The men of Judith's town were feckless chumps, so she steps up to save the day. Using her beauty, she seduces her way into Holofernes' encampment, and naturally Holofernes falls for her too, and once he's asleep, she beheads him, forcing the troops the leave. She carries the head back to her village and they sing the praises of God for the victory over the Assyrians. (If you want more info on the Assyrians, click this link...thoughtfully provided by Anonymous in the comments)

Judith essentially uses her sexuality for the glory of God and saves the day because of it...not to mention some serious head-chopping. She's a remarkably strong woman of the bible, and an honest to god hero, but she's frequently left out of discussions of women in the bible. Is it because she's apocraphyal? But, isn't there like, quite a few Catholics that would know the story? How has this story passed out of favor? How is that some wave of feminism hasn't latched onto the story of Judith? (Or maybe they have...I don't know spit about feminist theory...except the Cyborg Manifesto). Personally, I think this is bullshit.

Typically, I wouldn't care about this kind of sleight, but Judith has an odd place for me. See, my intial idea for my thesis was a Catch-22 style, stream of consciousness novel concerning a security guard at the St. Louis Art Museum who, as a direct result of his fiancee dying, develops an unhealthy obsession with this painting by Giorgio Vasari (yes, this painting is currently hanging in the St. Louis Art Musuem, and yes I took this picture...also, I have a postcard of this painting, not to mention the background of my laptop is a closeup of this):

The story I cooked up gets a little more complicated, but ultimately I figured that I couldn't pull off that kind of frenetic prose-play quite yet, so I shelved the idea (so no stealing you bastards, I got drafts). This painting is what really drew me into loving art. There's just something so beautiful about it. I remember walking past it for the first time at SLAM, and just stopping in my tracks to stare at it. I still don't know exactly what period it belongs too or anything about the technique that was made to paint it, I just know that I am in that painting's thrall.

I know now that Vasari wasn't a highly thought of painter, so maybe he was like the Tom Clancy of painting, so I should feel a little embarassed about my love for it. He was more known for his biography of more famous artists than being an artist himself, but there is something so perfectly capivating and beautiful about this painting, it could have been done by that day and age's Dean Koontz for all I care. If not for this, I don't care about artwork..and art means a lot to me now. It recharges the creative juices...it makes me see what can be done if you just attack a moment with the right kind of eyes and capture it beautifully. I know when I get blocked, I like to visit museums, or barring that, stare at the Van Gogh reproduction that's above my writing desk (I'll soon be gawking at a copy of this once I get it hung) So maybe that's why I feel so connected to the story of Judith.

Plus, out of all the Judith paintings I have seen, this is the only one I can find where she has yet to behead Holofernes. There may be others out there, but each and every one I've seen, Judith has the head in her hands, his head is in a basket, his head laying in front of her, or is sawing through his neck (like in the Artemesia Gentileschi (which she painted after she was raped),or the Caravaggio for example). This is the only one that captures her in that brief moment between revered biblical figure and regular woman...and there's something even more interesting about that to me. (Oh, that other person in the painting is some unnamed handmaiden.) So, on my computer, I have downloaded a few versions of Judith (including the small scene that's on the Sistine Chapel ceiling)...and on those moments that I remember to bring a camera with me to art musuems, I snag photos of Judith paintings I find.

Whew, okay. In review, US News and World Report dropped the ball in not including Judith because she is worthy of exploration and exhalation because where else are you going to find a positive spin on the power of female sexuality in the bible? Also, go see some art, get inspired...but if you take your camera with you, turn off the flash.

I'll end with the painting of Judith I found at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art. It was painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder, a German in the 1500's. The title is Judith with Head of Holofernes. Please excuse the crudeness of the photo...I was trying to grab a quick picture...there is just so much to see at the Met...I was trying to get to as much of it as I could....if you want a better shot of it, click that link in this paragraph. Enjoy.