Judith and Holofernes 1493

Michael Wolgemut made this woodcut of Judith and Holofernes in Germany, probably sometime in the late fifteenth century. The story comes from the Book of Judith and it depicts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite widow Judith, thereby saving her people from destruction. But rather than focus on the dramatic moment of the beheading, this image offers a sweeping panorama of the entire narrative in one go. This was a popular and effective storytelling technique at the time. The style of the image, with its jagged lines and flattened perspective, draws on the visual language of the popular print. This was a democratic art form, made for mass consumption. Prints like these were often used to illustrate books, and they would have been a more affordable way to access art and stories. Investigating the history of printmaking and popular imagery is essential if we want to fully understand the cultural world of the past.