Sevillian school; second half of the XVII century.

Sevillian school; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Judith and Holofernes".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of c. 1900 with faults.
Measurements: 55.5 x 79 cm; 84 x 108 cm (frame).
As for the iconography, it is worth mentioning that the image of this canvas is based on the biblical book of Judith, belonging to the Old Testament. The book tells the story of a Hebrew widow, Judith daughter of Merari, in the midst of Israel's war against the Babylonian army, erroneously called Assyrian. With beautiful features, high education and enormous piety, religious zeal and patriotic passion, Judith discovers that the invading general, Holofernes, has fallen in love with her. Accompanied by her maid, the widow descends from her walled city besieged by the foreign army and, deceiving the soldier into believing that she is in love with him, manages to enter his tent. Once there, instead of yielding to his gallant claims, she intoxicates him. When Holofernes falls asleep, Judith cuts off his head, sowing confusion in the Babylonian army and thus obtaining victory for Israel. This is a frequent theme in the history of art, mainly from the Baroque period onwards. However, if during the seventeenth century the scene in which Judith kills Holofernes was preferred, the taste of the nineteenth century determines a less dramatic expression unlike what is represented in this work.
The seventeenth century in the Sevillian school is the arrival of the Baroque, with the triumph of naturalism against Mannerist idealism, a loose invoice and many other aesthetic liberties. At this time the school reached its greatest splendor, both for the quality of the works and for the primordial rank of Sevillian Baroque painting. Thus, during the transition to Baroque we find Juan del Castillo, Antonio Mohedano and Francisco Herrera el Viejo, in whose works the rapid brushstroke and the crude realism of the style is already manifested, and Juan de Roelas, introducer of Venetian colorism. In the middle of the century the period reached its peak, with figures such as Zurbarán, a young Alonso Cano and Velázquez. Finally, in the last third of the century we find Murillo and Valdés Leal, founders in 1660 of an Academy where many of the painters active during the first quarter of the 18th century were trained, such as Meneses Osorio, Sebastián Gómez, Lucas Valdés and others.