Judith Beheading Holofernes

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, c. 1599

Oil on canvas, 145 × 195 cm

Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini, Rome

Room II · Rise to Fame (c. 1598–1600)

Judith, a young widow, beheads the Assyrian general Holofernes to save her people, while her old servant waits with the sack for the head. Forgotten for centuries, the painting resurfaced in a private collection in the mid-twentieth century.