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The story of an exceptional discovery

Judith and Holofernes, presentation by the expert Éric TURQUIN

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Judith and Holofernes, note by Professor Nicolas SPINOSA

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More information on Caravaggio in Toulouse on the site: 

www.thetoulousecaravaggio.com

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In-depth analysis of the table

Comparison with other works of Caravaggio

1. JUDITH AND HOLOPHERNE BY CARAVAGE

Judith beheading Holofernes, 1599 - 1602, National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome

The scene is recounted by a biblical text, the Book of Judith composed in Palestine towards the end of the 2nd
century BC JC.

The action is in 800 BC. Judith lives in Bethulia, a city besieged by
Holofernes. While the city is at its wit's end, ready to surrender to the enemy, Judith, a young widow of great beauty, 
decides to seduce General Holofernes. He organizes a banquet in his honor. At the end of the
evening, he falls asleep drunk in his room. Judith then kills him with two sword strokes.

"In the evening, his servants hastened to leave each home, and Vagao closed the doors of the room and departed. All were asleep with the wine they had drunk. And Judith was alone in the room. Holofernes was lying in his bed all overloaded with sleep by the excess of wine. And Judith commanded her servant to stand outside the door of the chamber, and to watch there. Praying with tears, and stirring her lips in silence, she says, " Lord God of Israel, strengthen me, and see you
favorable at this moment that my hand will do so that you will meet, according to your promise, your city of Jerusalem, and that I finish what I thought I could do by your assistance ". Having spoken thus, she approached the column which was at the bedside, and untied her saber which was attached to it. Then, taking it from the scabbard, she took Holofernes by the hair of her head and said: Lord God, strengthen me at this time ". She then struck him on the neck twice, cut off his head; and having drawn a curtain out of the pillars, she threw down her dead body.

 

  • Holofernes, lieutenant of the immense army of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who besieges Bethulia in Samaria.
  • Judith, literally "the Jewess".
  • Abba, the maid of Judith.
Ill. Judith beheading Holofernes. On the left, the copy by the Flemish painter Louis Finson, Naples. On the right, the painting found in Toulouse considered as the original having served as a model to Louis Finson.

Three ancient testimonies refer to paintings of Caravaggio representing Judith and Holofernes.

  • The painter Giovanni Baglione (1566 - 1643) deals in his writings with a painting belonging to the banker Ottavo Costa.
  • A letter dated 17 September 1607 from the Flemish painter Franz Pourbus (1569 - 1622) evokes a painting painted in Naples by Caravaggio.
  • The Flemish painter Louis Finson (1580 - 1617), who bequeaths on November 19, 1617 a canvas on this subject to his disciple Abraham Vinck.

These testimonies are proof that Caravaggio executed several versions of this episode of the Bible.

Nowadays, we are aware of two versions:

  • Judith and Holofernes, version of Rome. Order of Ottavio COSTA.
  • Judith and Holofernes, version of Naples. Until now known by a copy, recognized as such, attributed to the painter Louis Finson (1580 - 1617).

In both versions, horror increased by:

  • the confinement of the scene
  • the disproportion between frail Judith and the gigantic Holofernes
  • the hideous and grimacing maid

The choice of the moment.

In both versions, the choice of the moment breaks with the tradition, which consisted rather in recounting the preliminary of the murder when, during the banquet, Holofernes was seduced by Judith. Here is shown the now infigurable and central moment, the sword stroke being given, the blade midway, in the middle of the neck, the head that begins to separate from the body, pulled back by the hair that Judith's hand grips and the blood streams.

Unique moment, decisive, mortal, without past, without future: timeless. Judith will never stop cutting off Holofernes' head.

The table discovered in Toulouse is admirable both for its technical and aesthetic qualities. Confronted with the painting of Judith and Holofernes kept in Rome but also to the copy made by Louis Finson after an original Caravaggio, kept in Naples, it becomes very complicated to say that this painting can be in another hand than from that of Caravaggio.

Caravaggio, life and work

Chalk on paper, Ottavio Léoni, circa 1621, Florence, Marucelliana library.

Leading a dissolute life with brawls, murders and leaks, her mysterious personality continues to fascinate us today.

Died before he was 39, he enjoyed outstanding celebrity status despite his more than controversial style.

Caravaggio will impose, not without setbacks and conflicts, his will of renewal and of invention, never ceasing to associate the sacred with the profane to nourish his imitation of the natural. He refuses the rhetorical hierarchy between noble subjects and low subjects. The radically innovative nature of his art played a decisive role in the affirmation of the principles of realism, from the very beginning of the seventeenth century.

Caravaggio "Destroyed all the good uses of painting Giovanni Pietro BELLORI (1613 - 1696).

"  With Caravaggio, destruction of the painting means death of the painting of history, in a dark room through which a burst of light that captures, immobilizes, stupefies the figures in an instantaneous time, which neutralizes the duration of the representation in painting ". Louis MARIN (1931 - 1992).

Caravaggio and its context

Artistic time is governed by the precepts of the Catholic Counter-Reformation (Council of Trent, 1545 - 1563). In response to Protestantism, the Counter-Reformation wants to extend the practice of Catholic worship to a wider range of people. Artists are responsible for designing their work from a "propaganda" perspective by making religious art accessible to ordinary people. Images become "instruments for uniting men to God". The taste of Caravaggio's realism coincides with this desire to pay more attention to the most modest, and to reconcile devotion and communication.

The sponsors of works: priests, nobles or all honored persons who wish to beautify churches or persons practiced in the field of letters and studies.

Caravaggio will deal mainly with sacred subjects. The nature of the work entrusted to him was often intended for places of worship, but always financed by private persons. He revolutionized religious art by his very realistic approach, human and daily representation of biblical texts that could also shock the reformers. Thus, the painting The Death of the Virgin, painted with the main model the corpse of a drowned prostitute was refused by the clergy of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome.

The Death of the Virgin, circa 1605-1606, Louvre Museum, Paris.

In Italy, especially in Rome, it is the time when the mannerism It is a must for religious buildings with artists such as Girolamo MUZIANO (1532 - 1592), Federico BAROCCI (1528 - 1612) and Federico ZUCCARI (1539 - 1609).

Annibal Carrache (1560-1609), working with his brothers, Ludovico and Agostino, academic painter par excellence, advocates a painting based on the ancient models and the looking for the beautiful ideal. It embodies a school of painting that will tend to another interpretation of the precepts of the Council of Thirty: where Caravaggio will opt for a naturalistic vision and a representation based on popular models, the Carracci do not move away from so-called "classical" models. creating paintings by means of a clean drawing, and at the disposition and the balanced colors.

It is in the studio of Simone PETERZANO (Bergamo v. 1540 - Milan 1596), a Lombard artist, that Caravaggio, entering there at the age of 12, acquires the first rudiments of his training as a painter. PETERZANO is considered one of the best representatives of Late Lombard Mannerism. Caravaggio will paint during these four years of learning a significant number of portraits.

His manner is set up very early in his career, in his twenties. He arrived in Rome in 1592.

  • 1592: Dejected and unknown, he enters the studio of Lorenzo Sicialiano, near Campo Vaccino, where he will paint "heads".
  • End of 1592: He is hired in Rome by a painter named Antiveduto Grammatica, in his studio near the church San Giacomo in Augusta. At this time appears in his painting the "stereotype of the androgynous" (Young boy peeling a pear, Young boy bitten by a lizard, sick Bacchus ...).

Ill. Boy with fruit basket, circa 1593, Borghese Gallery / The young sick Bacchus, circa 1593, Borghese Gallery. / Young boy bitten by a lizard, 1595-1596, National Gallery, London.

  • June 1593, entry to the workshop of "Cavalier d'Arpin", the most prestigious of Rome, organized on the model called "alla Torretta": distribution of tasks according to collaborators, some painting landscapes, others garlands of flowers according to their merit and experience ... He will leave this workshop in January 1594 in troubled circumstances; Michelangelo Merisi paints "flowers and fruit baskets".
Fruit basket, circa 1594 - 1602, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan. Only still life unquestionably attested to Caravaggio.

His protectors (collectors & patrons)

Throughout his life, Caravaggio has surrounded himself with the most influential personalities of his time (which will allow him, among other things, to escape a death sentence), among which:

Costanza Sforza Colonna, Cardinal Federico Borromeo, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo. (Capital personality of the Counter-Reformation in Italy), Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, Cardinal Girolamo Mattei and his brother Ciriaco Mattei, Borghese including Cardinal Scipione Borghese, Maffeo Barberini (future Pope Urban VIII) bankers Ottavio Costa and Vincenzo Giustiniani ...

Caravaggio and dates

Caravaggio and creating a new way

  • Alessandro BONVICION says "The Moretto" (v. 1495 - 1554). Innovative method in the use of light and the distribution of color in a game of white and dark. Often described as "pre caravaggesque" by its way of granting a "spiritual" dimension to the human but also to the landscape that surrounds it. Dramatically lit landscape.
  • Lorenzo LOTTO (1480 - 1557). Landscape, play of light, cold tones, glazed.
  • Antonio (1523 - 1587) and Vincenzo (1536 - 1591) CAMPI. Promoters in Lombardy of a naturalism that Caravaggio will metamorphose in a revolutionary way.
  • Ambrogio FIGINO (1553 - 1608)
  • Vincenzo FOPPA (1427 - 1519)
  • Giova Paolo LOMAZZO (1538 - 1592)
Throughout his tormented life and staggered displacement, desired or forced, Caravaggio will continue to say its debt to the school of painting called "Lombarde", located in the north of the peninsula. Caravaggio was one of the few painters of his time who did not have numerous and permanent collaborators in charge of multiplying copies and variants in his works.

No preparatory drawing. Caravaggio is known for having designed and produced his paintings without preparatory drawingswhich were replaced by outlined sketches in brown or black on the canvas. His works are the result of many "repentances" (confirmed by the radiography of his paintings).

He also practiced incisions in the canvas with the handle of the brush, even with a punch. These traces work like landmarks to fix on the canvas the position protagonists.

Whether the subject is religious or profane, Caravaggio has endeavored to paint it by drawing inspiration from real life, deliberately popular, with attention to detail and the rejection of idealization. The characters of the Old and New Testament or of Greek antiquity thus become human beings going about their daily and "terrestrial" occupations. The sacred event is "secularized", re-established in its daily life in order to be recounted as it could have been perceived by its contemporaries, without reducing its spiritual dimension. Conversely, Caravaggio's painting can be seen as a metamorphosis of everyday life into a sacred dimension.

Caravaggio's touch, fast, is nonetheless smooth and precise, making it possible to account for the density of painted objects. Shadows shape volumes. When Caravaggio painted "Bacchus" preserved in the Uffizi (Ill. 1), he manages to restore both the transparency of the glass, its density: looking at it, we feel the lightness and fragility of this object.

Caravaggio also knows how to distance himself from the "beautiful ideal" advocated since the beginning of the Renaissance, and modeled on the art of antiquity. He does not hesitate to paint reality in its entirety, uncompromising: pale complexion, dirty nails, blackened teeth ... Look for example the representation of the hands of "Holofernes" in the painting kept in Rome (Figure 2) or the feet of one of the peasants of the "Madonna of Pilgrims" (Fig. 3).

The models.

There again, religious scene or secular scene, he takes his models in everyday life: thugs, beggars, prostitutes and restores their brutal reality, which again is not without shock some of his contemporaries. In the guise of St. Catherine of Alexandria (Ill. 3) has been identified Fillide Melandroni, famous courtesan of the time. Or Mario Minniti, his waiter and collaborator whose face we find in the player of Luth, the Bacchus or the Fortune teller.

Detail of St. Catherine of Alexandria, circa 1598, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection
It is by the use of the technique of clear dark That Caravaggio has significantly revolutionized the history of art. It associates with a precise touch and raw details, the rendering of a lateral and artificial lighting. This is a ' metamorphosed naturalism In the words of Gérard-Julien Salvy, whom he defines as a naturalism "not confined to description"; Broadcast a artificial light hitting the scene at an angle gives his scenes a supernatural side and brings the creation of "abrupt" contrasts. The highlighting of certain faces and volumes gives an intensely dramatic side to the scene. Caravaggio, who did not like forced or superfluous expressions, thus uses the eloquence of light. This chiaroscuro can not be so much emphasized without dark backgrounds, sometimes united. A brightly lit subject on a plain background becomes clear and precise. The contrast is vigorous. The emergence of light in the shadow gives a effect "suspended" gestures protagonists, this same light connecting the different protagonists to each other. When he painted "The Ecstasy of Saint Francis", a painting preserved in the United States, it was the very first time that Caravaggio used chiaroscuro in a religious scene. The lighting is concentrated on the face of the Saint and the angel who supports him, the rest of the scene remaining in semi-darkness: the representation is mystical, the entire spirituality translated by this almost sensual lighting.
The Ecstasy of St. Francis, circa 1597, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.
  Finally, for some compositions, such as Judith beheading General Holofernes kept in Rome, Caravaggio uses a tight framing half-body that brings the viewer closer to the characters in action.
Judith and Holofernes, circa 1599 - 1602, Ancient Art Gallery, Rome.
First home of Caravaggio before his adventures forced him to exodus, Rome is a city and cosmopolitan at the turn of the century, with visitors flocking not only from all over Italy, but also from France, Germany, England, Flanders including many artists coming to form there. The fortune of the Caravaggesque way will be immense and will spread throughout the continent, by Italy and its followers but also all foreign artists bringing back in their "baggage" this new way made of realism and chiaroscuro.

IN ROME. Valentin de Boulogne says Valentine (1591 - 1632).

IN ROME AND VENICE. Nicolas REGNIER (1588 - 1667).

IN PARIS. Simon VOUET (1590 - 1649), Claude VIGNON (1593 - 1670).

EAST OF FRANCE. Georges de la TOUR (1593 - 1652). Antoine, Louis and Mathieu LE NAIN (born between 1593 and 1607).

AT THE VELAY. Guy François (1578 - 1650).

TO AVIGNON. Bigot Trophy (1579 - 1650).

IN TOULOUSE. Nicolas TOURNIER (1590 - 1639). Feel free to admire his works at Augustinian Museum of Toulouse.

Table

Definitions

The auctioneer conducts the auction.

There are two auction types :

  • Voluntary auctions : an owner provides freely items. The voluntary auction is organized in accordance with the provisions of the French Civil Code (laws of July 10, 2000 and July 20, 2011,art. L. 321-1 to L. 321-38 of the French Commercial Code). The fees are applied in addition to the hammer price. They are generally set at 20% pre-tax, i.e 24% after tax.Upcoming Voluntary Sales.
  • The judicial sales : a judicial sale is provided for by a law or regulation, or can be authorized by a judge. Fees in addition to the hammer price are set at 12% pre-tax, i.e 14.40% after tax.Upcoming judicial sales.
 

A sale can be described as an auction when anybody is free to participate, under the sole condition of his solvency.

Everybody is able to hear all the offers made, and can thus outbid. The object presented is won by the highest bidder.

Any bid has to be equal to or higher than the starting price, or must be higher than the one proposed by a competitor for the purchase of the thing.

The amount of every bid is repeated out loud by the auctioneer so that every bidder can hear it.

This way, auctions are an objective and automatic mode of designation of a price and a purchaser.

The purchase order corresponds to a specific maximum amount in euros up to which the auctioneer is mandated to buy the item. The auctioneer buys the item on behalf of his client, in accordance with the instructions of the purchase order form. The auctioneer aims to purchase the item at the lowest possible price and still under the maximum price his client has set.

 

How to bid ?

The auctions being "public", they are open to anyone who can bid, i.e to any creditworthy person.

The place where the sale takes place is public. The auctioneer ensures the free access to the sale.

The restrictions to participate in an auction are those of common law : non-emancipated minors, protected adults, people under the influence of alcohol.

The auctioneer may subject the participation to a prior registration and the presentation of a guarantee of payment, these conditions being objective, non-discriminatory and appropriate.

The price is shouted. The sale is conducted in French and bids are made in euros. The auctioneer conducts the operations. He designates the item for sale and announces a starting price. People start bidding. When it turns out that no one is willing to offer a higher price, the item is won. The lot is sold and the sale is over when the auctioneer blows the hammer and says 'Adjugé'.

It is possible to bid by raising your hand, the sign being immediately translated into figures by the auctioneer, who announces it orally.

If you can't attend the saleit is possible to place an absentee bid. You have to fill in a purchase order form with the highest amount you are willing to pay for the artwork..
Once your form is registered, you will receive a confirmation by email.

If you can't attend the saleit is possible to place an absentee bid. You have to fill in a purchase order form with the highest amount you are willing to pay for the artwork..

Once your purchase order is registered, you will have the confirmation by email. You may be required to provide a piece of identification for the buyer as well as his bank details.
For some objects of exceptional character and/or value, a guarantee deposit may be required.

If the purchase order is made on behalf of a legal entity such as a company, you may be required to provide a Kbis extract and the ID of the manager mentioned in this document.

If the auctioneer receives several orders for identical amounts on the same lot and if, at the auction, these orders represent the highest bids, it will be awarded to the bidder whose order has been received first. .

No purchase order lower than the low estimate is accepted.

Full contact details must be provided in the form.

If the purchase order has been completed, the bill of sale summarizing the designation of the objects purchased, the amount awarded and the total amount with the fees will be sent no later than 24 hours after the sale (excluding non-working days).

The sending is done to the email filled during the request or, in the absence of it, by postal way.

it is possible to place bids by telephone.

Bidding by telephone lets you take part in the auction without having to be present in the auction room. If you would like to do this you will need to book yourself in as a telephone bidder in advance. Places are available on a first-come-first-served basis. You will also need to fill in a telephone bid form, providing proof of identity and residence and a contact telephone. is the one by which the person asks to be called on the phone during the auction, to make a live auction. To do this, simply fill in a Telephone bid form.

Once your request is registered, you will have the confirmation by email or telephone. You may be required to provide an ID as well as bank details.
For some objects of exceptional character and/or value, a guarantee deposit may be required.

If the purchase order is made on behalf of a legal entity such as a company, you may be required to provide a Kbis extract and the ID of the manager mentioned in this document.

Please note that this is a free service provided by the Auction House that can not be held responsible in case of late request or defective telephone link or in case of any error made in telephone contact.

No telephone bid form for objects whose low estimate is lower than 200 euros is accepted.

 

If you want to bid on the internet, the Auction House Labarbe uses the platform Interencheres Live. Live sales are broadcast on https://www.interencheres-live.com/. They bring two new services:

  • of the live auctions it allows to remotely participate in a real-time auction. From your computer, you can follow the auction fire and the auctioneer's comments during the sale (with sound and video). At any time and with a single click, you can bid as if you were in the room on the lots you want.
  • of the secret purchase orders : interencheres-live.com offers a service of secret purchase orders. Secret purchase orders are automatically executed and computerized. Their maximum amounts are not disclosed to the auctioneer. The bidders benefit from the guarantee of a purchase at the fairest price if they win the auction.

If you want to participate in an auction live or deposit a secret purchase order, kindly note that you have to register BEFORE the sale on interencheres-live.com.

Taxes are alway included in the hammer price, but the selling fees are not. Selling fees are a percentage calculated on the total amount of the sales bill. They can cary from one sale to another.

If you bid on the internet, an additional 3-percent fee applies. It pays the subcontractor responsible for organizing the auction live.

The payment of any item is due immediately. spot.

You can pay cashcash in the limit of €1000 with fees for French citizens and up to €15,000 with fees for anybody whose tax domicile is abroad.

The payment can also be made by credit card when the place of the sale allows it. 4% additional fees are charged to purchasers holding foreign cards.

If you bids were placed remotely, payment must be made upon receipt of the sales slip. You can pay by making an appointment with our accounting department, or use a bank transfer. Please contact us to retrieve our bank details.

For purchases made via the platform interencheres-live.com, the total amount can be debited from the credit card you've used for the registration.

How to pick up your purchase ?

  • I'm leaving with my goods on the same day.
    The staff will give me my goods on presentation of my sale slip (my invoice) fully paid.
  • I can not immediately take away my goods.
    Exceptionally, the Labarbe House can give you 72 hours to pick up your items. You should find out the place of storage of your object by contacting us beforehand. We will give you your good on presentation of my sale slip (my invoice) fully paid.
  • You can also mandate the person of your choice to pick up your property. In this case, you have to :
  1. fill out and send it to the Auction House a withdrawal authorization of the goods by a third person.
  2. This third person must present a copy of the sale slip fully paid, the withdrawal authorization, and his ID. If the sale slip hasn't been fully paidthis person has to do it at the auction house, in cash up to €1000 with fees or by credit card.
  • You pick up your property in person.
    On presentation of a sale slip fully paid, the goods can be withdrawn at the auction house. during opening hours, or when appropriate, at another place of sale. You should find out where your good is stored by contacting us beforehand.
  • You mandate the person of your choice to pick up your property. In this case, you must :
    1. Inform us by filling in a withdrawal authorization by a third party.
    2. This person must present the copy of the fully paid slip sale, the withdrawal authorization, and an ID. If the sale slip hasn't been fully paidthis person has to do it at the auction house, in cash up to €1000 with fees or by credit card.

    You should first find out where your good is stored by contacting us beforehand.

  • You want to call a carrier.
    You are free to call the carrier of your choice. If you don't know any transport company, the auction house can give you the details of a professional. In any case, you must :
  1. Inform us by filling in a withdrawal authorization of the goods by a third person.
  2. Transmit to the carrier a copy of my fully paid sale slip.
  3. You should first find out where your good is stored by contacting us beforehand.

Unless otherwise specified, the property is sent in good condition. The auction house is not liable for any loss or damage. The cost of the transport is the responsability of the purchaser.

  • I wish my purchases to be sent by post.
    It will be perceived a A price for packaging and shipping is required. It changes from 5 to €20 depending on the weight and volume of the property. Unless otherwise specified, the property is sent in good condition. The auction house is not liable for any loss or damage. The costs and the responsibility of the transport belong to the purchaser. In case of a postal sending, please contact us so that we can give you a quote. The auction House can refuse the packaging service if it seems to be too risky, given the nature of the object. The transport being carried out under the full responsibility of the buyer, please contact us to know if the good you want to acquire can be dispatched.