Comparing David and Goliath and Judith and Holofernes

Rebecca Daroff DiMattia, December 2012

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Judith, 1598 Palazzo Barberini, Rome The Story of David & Goliath: When David was a young shepherd, his people were threatened by the Philistine giant Goliath. David approached King Saul and insisted he could conquer the giant, even though he was not a soldier, and could not even fit into armor. David used his shepherd's sling to shoot two well-aimed rocks at Goliath?s head. Goliath fell, and David grabbed his abandoned sword and used it to cut Goliath's head off. David returned triumphantly carrying Goliath's head.  The Story of Judith & Holofernes: In response to the threat of General Holofernes and his army, Judith, a beautiful Jewish widow, pretended to betray her city of Bethulia. She left with her maidservant, Abra, travelled to the enemy's camp, and told the soldiers she intended to help them. Upon hearing this, Holofernes invited her to dinner. Enflamed by her beauty, he dismissed all his other guests, but Judith enticed him to drink until he was significantly weakened. She stole his sword, cut of his head, and called to her maidservant, who helped her to stuff the general's head into a sack. The women escaped unnoticed, returned triumphantly to their people, and in the morning, when the headless Holofernes was discovered, the people of Bethulia overpowered their disoriented enemy.

The young shepard boy who slayed the giant Goliath later goes on to become the beloved King David, and the story of David and Goliath is meant to illustrate that David was skilled, brave and favored by God even from a young age. Paintings of David and Goliath emphasized David's youth and Goliath's size to show how the unlikely hero triumphed over the enemy. Artists depicted David as undeniably heroic.

Judith's story is also meant to illustrate one of the many times that God favored the Israelites against their enemies, and that He especially favors those who are devout. The Book of Judith goes in to great detail about Judith's devotion to God, her wisdom, and her brilliant scheme to gain the enemy's trust in order to decapitate the general and escape with his head. Are paintings of Judith undeniably heroic? Sadly no, many of them are not.

The story of Judith is full of juicy details that made it all to easy to portray Holofernes as the victim of a cunning woman. Many of these details are twisted to support the use of this theme as a warning to men about the dangers of beautiful women. For example, the story describes how Judith dressed in her finest, adorned herself with jewels and then God made her even more beautiful. How could Holofernes have stood a chance? Judith is described at length as a devout and faithful woman. Holofernes wasn't really defeated by a woman: it was God acting through a woman. Judith had an elaborate scheme to gain Holofernes trust by pretending to abandon her people and promising to share their secrets. Women lie and can't be trusted!

The one detail that is not in the story is the one that artists seem to exploit the most. The story says that Holofernes was filled with desire for Judith, and nothing more is said. Many artists used their imagination and portrayed Judith in various states of nudity. Holofernes thought he was about to to sleep with Judith when she decapitated him. Women don't play fair!

Judith's maid is one of the most fascinating aspects of many paintings of Judith. As a wealthy widow, Judith brought her maid with her when she pretended to betray her people, and she asked her maid to wait outside the tent while she decapitated the general. Many artists included the maid in the tent with Judith, usually as an eager co-conspirator. The only thing more dangerous than a beautiful woman is two women working together.

Images of Judith
A Heroic Woman: In my opinion, the following depictions of Judith are faithful to her story and depict her as a brave, herioc savior of her people.
Massimo Stanzione Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1630–3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City	Trophime Bigot Judith Cutting Off the Head of Holofernes, 1640 The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore	Giovanni Battista il Sassoferrato Judith, 1630 Convent of San Pietro, Perugia	Artemisia Gentileschi Judith and Her Maidservant, 1612-13 Palazzo Pitti, Florence	Salomon de Bray Judith Delivering the Head of Holofernes, 1636
Oh, come on, really? In my opinion, the following depictions of Judith are hilariously unfortunate misrepresentations of her story, depicting her as weak, passive, barely capable of doing the deed, and barely dressed. Ask yourself this: "Are we really supposed to believe that this woman decapitated a general?"
Bernardo Cavallino Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1640 private collection	Philipp van Dijk Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1726 Mauritshuis, The Hague	Eglon van der Neer Judith, c.1678 National Gallery, London	Alessandro Varotani Judith with the head of Holofernes, c.1614-25 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna	Giovan Gioseffo dal Sole Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1695 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
Images of David
The undeniable hero:
Orazio Gentileschi David Slaying Goliath, 1607-9 National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin	Peter Paul Rubens David Slaying Goliath, c. 1616 Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA	Carlo Dolci David with the Head of Goliath, 1680 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston	Daniele da Volterra David and Goliath Musée du Louvre, Paris	Guido Reni David and Goliath  Private Collection

	David and Goliath		Judith and Holofernes
Origin of the story:	The Old Testament First Book of Samuel, Ch. 17	Orazio Gentileschi David Slaying Goliath, 1607-9 National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin	The Old Testament Apocrypha: The Book of Judith, Ch. 8	Massimo Stanzione Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1630–3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
The hero:	David, a young shephard who would become King of the Israelites		Judith, a widowed Israelite woman from the town of Bethulia
The enemy army:	The Philistines		The Assyrians
The enemy:	Goliath, a particularly large well-armed member of the Philistine army. The Philistines were attempting to conquer the Israelites, and Goliath had agreed to surrender if an Israelite could defeat him.		Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar's army, sent to to take vengeance on the nations of the west that had withheld their assistance to his reign.
The decision to oppose the enemy:	David brought food to his older brothers in the Israelite army. Upon hearing about Goliath's ultimatum, David told King Saul that he would defeat Goliath "because he has defied the armies of the living God."		Judith intervened when the town's elders decided that they would surrender if God did not send help within five days. Judith reproached them for putting a timeline on God's mercy, and decided to take matters in to her own hands by going to the enemy camp.
Justification for self-confidence:	Faith in God: "The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine."		Faith in God: Judith is devout and prays for divine guidance throughout the ordeal.
Weakening the enemy:	David slung a stone which sank in to Goliath's forehead, and Goliath fell face down.		Judith pretended to be a traitor to her people, and after gaining their trust, she accepted an invitation to dine with Holofernes alone. He was excited to have a beautiful traitoJr in his camp, and drank to excess until he fell asleep.
Defeating the enemy:	David cut off Goliath's head with his sword.		Judith cut off Holofernes' head with his sword
The weapons:	David's slingshot (used to protect his sheep from other animals) and Goliath's own sword.		Judith's feminine wiles and Holofernes' sword
The head:	David brought Goliath's head to Jerusalem.		Judith brought Holofernes' head to Bethulia
The result:	The Philistine army fled		The Assyrian army fled when they were attacked by the Israelites at dawn, and discovered their general's headless body.
A hero's reward:	David became a member of the household of King Saul, rose through the ranks of the army, gained popularity, married the king's daughter Michal, and became king of the Israelites.		Judith is awarded Holofernes' riches.