A Visual Description of Judith with the Head of Holofernes
Read the Introduction and sections entitled Visual Description and "Realistic" on the Writing About Art website. Then choose one of the works of art listed below that are on display in the Syracuse University Art Museum. Write a one-page description of that work. Keep in mind that this is not an interpretative paper. That is, you are not expected to place the work in an historical context, discuss who made it, liken it to other works, or make qualitative (good, bad, ugly, beautiful, etc.) judgments about its appearance. Simply describe it using as many specifics as possible in terms of its size, medium, color, imagery, etc. It may help to imagine that you are describing the object to someone who cannot see it. Begin with generalities and then move to specifics.
A Visual Description of Judith with the Head of Holofernes
This paper visualizes Judith with the Head of Holofernes (Syracuse University Art Museum, 0018.006), an oil painting by Lucas Cranach, the Elder. In the painting, Judith is holding the head of Holofernes by the hair with her left hand, and a sword, held by her right hand, is oriented vertically with the tip pointing upwards (The Guardian, 2018). From her head downwards, she is dressed in a brimmed hat with netting covering her hair, a neck collar, and a braided wrap across her chest. Her gown has a tight, long-sleeved bodice, a furry over-garment draping over it and multiple rings laden fingers of both hands (Noss, 2015). The dressing is ceremonial.
Although Judith dawns gold ornaments, a proper judgement of the painting would be that it is dull. It is because the colours of the painting are gloomy, which go hand in hand with the moody ambience of having the decapitated head of Holofernes in the painting, but Judith's posture and gestures juxtapose this. Her light skin tone makes her conspicuous, and she wears a smug smile denoting some mischief ...