Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes

Rembrandt painted Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes in 1634, during his first years in Amsterdam when he was establishing himself as the city's most ambitious painter. The biblical subject of the heroine who seduced and beheaded the Assyrian general was popular in Baroque art. Rembrandt's treatment emphasizes the psychological moment before the violence rather than the act itself. Now in the Museo del Prado, the painting entered Spanish royal collections through the art market. It demonstrates Rembrandt's early mastery of biblical narrative and his preference for psychological tension over physical action.

The richly dressed Judith is rendered in warm tones with meticulous attention to the golden brocade costume, the strong chiaroscuro and theatrical composition characteristic of Rembrandt's early historical paintings.