CHRISTOPHANO ALLORI (follower of) (Florence, 1577 - 1621) Judith with the Head of Holofernes Oil on canvas, 147X118 cm Provenance: Italy, private collection The painting is attributed to a Tuscan artist influenced by Cristofano Allori and the image presents expressive delicacies that evoke the manner of Cesare Dandini. The theme depicts the biblical episode of Judith and Holofernes and the scene describes the heroine proudly displaying the macabre trophy. The fading colours applied with liquidity and the gloomy setting contribute to the theatricality of the composition. The model can be recognised in the one conserved in the Galleria Palatina in Florence and painted between 1610 and 1612, but there are several autograph and workshop replicas known to scholars to which critics have devoted various research and attempts at classification. To understand and explain the painting's extraordinary fame, it is necessary to recall Baldinucci's notes, which recognise in the head of Holofernes the painter's self-portrait and in the female figure that of his beloved. In the work, Cristofano declares the influence of Caravaggio, probably learnt from the examples of Artemisia Gentileschi who painted two impetuous Judiths for Cosimo II in the same years. Cristofano emphasises the beauty of the heroine, the whiteness of her complexion and the richness of her dress, in contrast to the horror of the severed head she holds, creating a political manifesto in which cunning, courage and faith are indispensable virtues to win freedom against any oppressor. Reference bibliography: Cristofano Allori 1577-1621, exhibition catalogue edited by M. L. Chappell, Florence 1984, ad vocem