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Darkside
research has been through artwork of the story . To be quite frank it has obsessed artists for hundreds of years and involved artistic giants such as Caravaggio , Gentileschi and Klimt to name but a few . Each interpretation has caused much debate , mostly centring around the portrayal of Judith . Cold , heartless assassin or chastened heroine doing her duty ? To me there has always been an erotic side to all the interpretations in their appearance and of course , given my proclivities , because of the idea of a woman killing a man , which I find hugely arousing .
The basic story is the Israelites were in peril , faced with an Assyrian army at the gates , led by top general
Holofernes . Judith , a young beautiful widow , volunteers to infiltrate the enemy camp and destroys the resolve of the army by assassinating the general by chopping off his head . She then proudly displays the head of her victim on her return to the city and stiffens the resolve of the frightened Israelites so victory can be achieved . Well something like that anyway !
I find virtually all representations of the act arousing . Some depict Judith as a chasten saint just doing her gruesome duty , but I still find some arousal studying these . However , many others are much more overtly sexual and present her as a beguiling , sexual predator who revels in her task . The whole story and it ’ s numerous depictions has become it ’ s very own ‘ battle of the sexes ’. A mini industry has grown around interpretations of Judith and her motivations . To many artists and art historians she is a feminist icon fighting the patriarchy but just as many others see her as a sexy siren , a black widow weaving her web of death . It ’ s obvious which side I fit into isn ’ t it ? Well , not quite . I can see both views but on my base gut reaction , I see it as a sexy , arousing story and I think the many representations of it in art suggest the sexual side is the main motivation for the continued debate and the constant conveyor belt of interpretations of the story that are still being produced even today .
Darkside • Issue 39