Judith With The Head Of Holofernes By Cristofano Allori At The Queen`s Gallery In London England Editorial Photo

The most famous painting by Florentine artist Cristofano Allori, carried out between 1610 and 1612, became an instant success and was widely copied, due in part to the popularity of the legend of the biblical heroine Judith which the artist interpreted autobiographically; the decapitated head of Holofernes is a self-portrait while his lover Mazzafirra is portrayed in the beautiful face of the young woman, whose extraordinarily luxurious clothing is a direct tribute to the city`s thriving textile industry. After the painter`s death in 1621, the painting became part of the Medici collections and arrived at the Pitti Palace in 1666. This work by Cristofano acknowledges his influence from Caravaggio through the teachings of Artemisia Gentileschi who, in the same period in the service of the Medici family, painted two violent interpretations of Judith for Cosimo II