Carlo Maratti (1625-1713) The Head of Holofernes c.1675, red and white chalk on blue paper

This work is a study for Judith with the Head of Holofernes, one of a cycle of Old Testament mosaics executed to Maratti designs in the lunettes of the Cappella Della Presentazione, in St Peter's, Rome. Maratti's involvement with the scheme seems to date from about 1669.

The grisly subject portrayed in this scene was one of the most frequently painted by Italian Renaissance and Baroque artists.

Taken from the apocryphal Book of Judith, the story describes a wise and attractive Jewish widow who contrives a plan to save her besieged city from the Assyrians. With her maid, Judith pretends to desert her town and visits the general Holofernes in his encampment. Invited to spend the night, Judith instead takes advantage of Holofernes' drunkenness and, while he sleeps, cuts off his head.