Like the study for Jael Slaying Sisera - Metropolitan Museum of Art inv. 36.101.2 - , this sheet relates to the mosaics of biblical subjects that Maratti designed for Saint Peter's Basilica in the later 1670s. The subject is another Old Testament heroine, Judith, who vanquished the Assyrian general Holofernes, an enemy of the Jews, by seducing him and cutting off his head after he had fallen into an inebriated stupor. Gazing heavenward, Judith here brandishes her sword and triumphantly holds up her victim's severed head. Behind her is the slumped, decapitated corpse of Holofernes. For this composition study, Maratti employed pen and ink whereas for the figure study of Jael he used red chalk-a medium that allows for more subtle and descriptive modeling.
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Inscription: Annotated in graphite on verso, ch. maratte.
Lazzarelli
Pennsylvania State University, Museum of Art. "Carlo Maratti and His Contemporaries: Figurative Drawings from the Roman Baroque," January 19, 1975–March 16, 1975.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Roman Artists of the 17th Century: Drawings and Prints (Athens and New York)," November 2, 1976–January 16, 1977.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 12–April 12, 2009.
Walter Vitzthum "Review: Carlo Maratti - cuaranta y tres dinbujos de tema religioso (by V.M. Nieto Alcaide, Madrid, 1965)." Master Drawings. vol. 3, no. 2, New York, 1965, fig. no. pl. 37b, p. 175., ill.
Ann Sutherland Harris, Eckhart Schaar Kataloge des Kunstmuseums Düsseldorf: Handzeichnungen: I: Die Handzeichnungen von Andrea Sacchi und Carlo Maratta. Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, 1967, p. 117.
Jacob Bean "Ninety-seventh Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year Annual Report 1966-1967, Reports of the Departments: Drawings." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.s. vol. 24, no. 2, New York, October 1967, cat. no. under 115, p. 76.
Woman As Heroine Exhibition Catalogue: Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1972, cat. no. 20, fig. no. p. 43, p. 43, ill.
Jacob Bean Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975. Explanatory texts accompanying an exhibition. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.
Jean K. Westin, Robert H. Westin Carlo Maratti and His Contemporaries, Figurative Drawing from the Roman Baroque. Exh. cat., Museum of Art, Penn State University (19 Jan. - 16 Mar., 1975). Pennsylvania State University, Museum of Art, University Park, 1975, pp. 64-64, no. 38, fig. 45.
Jacob Bean (but catalogue not signed), The Metropolitan Museum of Art Roman Artists of the 17th Century: Drawings and Prints. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1976, n.p.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 17th century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979, cat. no. 276, fig. no. 276, p. 210, ill.
Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, Andrea Emiliani, Erich Schleier Guido Reni und Europa, Ruhm und Nachruhm. Exh. Cat.: Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany. Frankfurt, 1988, fig. no. p. 148, pp. 148, 150, ill.
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