This is a graphite copy of Lucas Cranach’s 1537-1540 painting, “Portrait of a Lady of the Saxon Court as Judith with the Head of Holofernes”.

I saw this piece at the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco, and, with little knowledge of the biblical story, was intrigued by the scene. “Why was this woman killing this man?” I asked myself. It seemed odd that during the Renaissance, women would be portrayed in this way. Of course, Cranach is not depicting typical Renaissance women; this is the biblical scene of the Jewish widow Judith murdering the charming general Holofernes, who has come to attack her homeland.

I decided to draw a sketch of the painting while at the museum, before returning home to complete the piece. Instead of using colors, I worked to render the intricate clothing of the female as well as the face of the male victim in black and white, which was quite challenging.

Dimensions (H x W): 12” x 9”