content=This painting portrays a scene from the biblical story of an Israeli woman named Judith who was captured to be a mistress to the Assyrian tyrant Holofernes.  As told, Judith concedes to being Holofernes mistress and seduces him but while he is sleeping she beheads him as retribution to the oppression of her people and is revered as a heroine.  This scene depicts the instant at which Judith beheads Holofernes with her hand maidens help.
<BR>This particular depiction of 'Judith Slaying Holofernes' is one of four editions of the painting that Artemisia gentileschi produced.  Gentileschi was chastised by her male peers that the women she painted were too hard and lacked finesse and femininity.  Female artist in her era were allowed to paint figures of women alone because they were forbidden to study the male body.  Most female artist painted history paintings or self portraits and the female body was popularly pigeonholed into a figure that represented the height of finesse, beauty, and domestic achievement.  Many female painters resented the rampid male chauvinism and manifested the emotion as a theme in their art.  Gentileschi portrayed the women she painted in an earthy, maternal role or, in the case of Judith, full of spite and revenge.  These were roles foreign to normal representations of female characters consequently, as her notoreity increased centuries later, she is revered as a feminist spearhead for the artistic community.
<BR>Many contemporary critiques believe that Artemisia Gentileschi used Caravaggio's paintings as a prototype for her own; he had painted the same scene  of Judith almost thirty years earlier.  Painting characteristics that Caravaggio are famed for can be exampled in the exagerated facial expressions of the characters, the almost neurotic attention to detail, and the contrast of the dark black background to the seeming spotlot shining on the characters, bringing them to the forefront attention of the entire painting.  Although juxtaposing the two paintings alots several similarities, the differences portray the artist's intent as explicitly as if Gentileschi or Caravaggio were expressing the meaning to you face to face.  A stark distinction is the switch in female roles, Caravaggio's Judith is a young women accompanied by an old women, riddled with wrinkles, and her expression implies that she is disturbed by the beheading she is performing.  Not only that but her arm is outstretched and grip on the knife is so light that realistically she would not have had the ability to behead the muscular man that is presented in Caravaggio's portrayal.  Gentileschi's characters are depicted as more muscular and harsh and both female participants are younger looking.  This Judith is larger and expresses more interest and aggression in the beheading of Holofernes than Caravaggio's Judith.  Her muscles are tense and her facial expression intense, even her handmaiden is helping in holding down Holofernes.  Gentileschi's female characters look better equipped to handle the struggle of a man being beheaded and provide a better outlet as to how this task was achieved.  Gentileschi's female characters in her paintings are strong, authoritative types that could easily overcome male figures,  this could be an expression of Gentileschi's frustration with the male patriarchy.  Gentileschi's paintings definately illustrates the saying "anything you can do, I can do better".
<BR>The theme of feminine aggression toward male chauvinism is depicted in my flash representation as a club scene where a overconfident male steps past spacial boundaries and slaps he girl next to him on the behind.  Instead of passively ignoring this blatant harassment, a social constrict practiced widely, the girl retaliates by beating the crap out of the guy.  This is depicted as a screen shot on the right.