Judith met het hoofd van Holofernes 1752 - 1819

Curator: This watercolor and ink drawing from between 1752 and 1819, attributed to Jurriaan Andriessen, depicts Judith with the Head of Holofernes. What are your initial impressions? Editor: My immediate reaction is subdued. The colors are muted, almost faded. It doesn’t scream baroque drama, but whispers it. There’s a rawness in the sketchy lines that feels more like a study than a finished work. What draws you in? Curator: Absolutely. The emotional weight for me is tied to Judith as a symbol – a righteous actor. It’s interesting to see her depicted with such… reserve. Usually she is an avenging power. She transcends any one particular cultural milieu because she keeps coming up in diverse contexts as a heroic figure. Editor: Yes, but look at how Andriessen renders her garment: quick, almost impatient strokes, but with variations in the ink hinting at volume. This piece probably served a direct purpose in the artist's studio, guiding another's process, maybe even to serve a theatrical set. See the script in the corner? Mes or Ayer…it is difficult to determine who owned this work, who the subject was or is referencing in the caption. I suspect a production by its appearance in this style. Curator: You might be onto something about the set. These muted colors can bring her back to the material reality that it takes for the image of power to coalesce, don't they? Even if the reference is personal. Editor: Exactly. And the act itself—beheading Holofernes—a raw act of physical labor rendered here not as an explosion of passion but with quiet pragmatism in this work, which is so revealing. It asks us to consider all that happens on set and backstage! Curator: A fitting reminder that symbols are made, not born, often springing out of communal labor and out of historical reference! Editor: And of the incredible things people make behind the scenes, without the claim of masterpiece or the noise of authorship.