Judith with the Head of Holofernes

religious

The biblical story of Judith made a deep impression on Galizia at an early age and she treated the subject many times, several versions are in private collections. In this version, the Jewish heroine is sumptuously dressed, laden with jewelry and her head crowned with a diadem. The preciosity of the heroine's attire reflects the training in the miniature tradition the artist received from her father, Nunzio.

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About the Artist

Fede Galizia

1578 – 1630

Italian painter. She was the daughter and pupil of Nunzio Galizia (active 1573-95), a miniature painter, who moved to Milan from Trento. She first came to notice by the age of 12, by 1596 she was well known for her portraits and religious works. Like many other female artists of that era, she learned her artistic skills from her father. The style of her portraits derived from the naturalistic traditions of the Renaissance in Italy, demonstrated in the work of such artists as Moretto da Brescia, Giovanni Battista Moroni and Lorenzo Lotto. However, the most important part of her oeuvre, for which she earned her place in art history, are her still-lifes which are among the earliest examples of this genre. Fede Galizia never married, she lived a happy life, and had a successful art career. In 1630 she died of the plague in Milan.

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