This is a discrete copy of the famous composition, dated originally between 1610 and 1612, by Florentine artist Cristofano Allori. At that time, throughout the 18^th century and even during Romanticism, that work was considered as one of the most beautiful compositions of Italian art. Filippo Baldinucci, Alllori’s biographer, provides a detailed account of the story of the famous painting, for which people in the artist’s circle acted as the models. Mazzafirra, his mistress, was the model for Judith; her mother was the old woman and Allori himself, known for his ‘not very pleasant appearance’ was Holofernes. To a great extent, the enthusiastic reception of the piece and the reaction of the critics were due to the autobiographical reading of it by the poet Giovanni Battista Marino, a contemporary of Allori. This was in keeping with a certain trend of Italian Baroque painters to give importance to their personal experience under the auspices of an important theme and a recognisable narrative.

The original of Judith with the Head of Holofernes is in the Palatine Gallery at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. His success led Allori himself to make several replicas, such as the one signed and dated in 1613 currently held by the Royal Collection Trust in the United Kingdom. Other copies dated in the Seicento, some of which are attributed to the artist himself, are kept at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London (small format, some just 30 cm high) at the Palazzo Corsini (Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini) in Rome, at the Netherlands Art Collection of Amsterdam and even in  Spain, where the Casa de Alba Foundation Collection boasts an outstanding replica purchased in Italy in 1818 (see Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Pintura italiana del siglo XVII en España. Madrid: Fundación Valdecilla, 1965, pg. 483).

There was a plethora of copies of Allori’s composition during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, which is proof of the resounding success both of the biblical theme alluding to women’s power against tyranny and how the Caravaggio-style naturalism, which Allori followed, continued to be popular over time.  In 1846, the editor of Baldinucci indicated that the painting was ‘very famous for the many copies that have been and are made of it’.

Commentary updated by Carlos Martín

Alfonso Pérez Sánchez