Judith feasted by Holofernes

This painting of Judith Feasted by Holofernes by Paolo Veronese, in the Ashmolean Museum, depicts the Old Testament scene in which the Assyrian general entertains the beautiful Judith at a banquet, not knowing she intends to kill him. The feast scene allowed Veronese to exercise his supreme talent for depicting lavish banquets — a format he elevated to unprecedented splendor in works like the Feast in the House of Levi. The dramatic irony of the scene — the viewer knows what Holofernes does not — adds psychological tension beneath the surface opulence.

Veronese transforms the biblical banquet into a scene of Venetian magnificence, with rich table settings, architectural grandeur, and sumptuously dressed figures. The dramatic tension between the feast's apparent splendor and its violent conclusion is conveyed through subtle compositional cues, while the brilliant palette maintains the visual pleasure that is Veronese's signature.