Judith

Giorgione's Judith, painted around 1504, is known through copies since the original was in the Crozat Collection and its current whereabouts are uncertain. The painting shows Judith with the severed head of Holofernes, but Giorgione transforms the violent subject into a contemplative, almost dreamlike image. This psychological transformation of dramatic subjects into atmospheric meditations was Giorgione's most revolutionary contribution to Western painting.

Giorgione's atmospheric technique transforms the violent Judith subject into a meditative image through soft, blended tones and the dreamy, contemplative expression that replaces the conventional drama of the beheading narrative.