Judith

Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant)

possibly ca. 1886 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Judith, the biblical heroine who saved her besieged city by beheading the general Holofernes, appears as an avenging beauty, proudly bearing her sword. Painted in glinting red and gold tones, this exotic figure attests to Benjamin-Constant’s esteem for the palette and subject matter of the great early-nineteenth-century artist Delacroix. Following in the older artist’s footsteps, Benjamin-Constant traveled to Spain and Morocco in the early 1870s, a voyage that yielded inspiration, and props, for many of his pictures. He returned repeatedly to the dramatic motif of Judith, including another version shown at the Salon of 1886.

Artist

Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant)

Date

possibly ca. 1886

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of J. E. Gombos, 1959