Judith I

Gustav Klimt's 'Judith I' (1901) transforms the Old Testament heroine into a Viennese femme fatale: a half-closed-eyed woman cradling the severed head of Holofernes at her hip, her golden gown and the flat ornamental background fused with gold leaf in the Byzantine manner. Sensual, triumphant, and disturbing, the painting combines desire, death, and power in a single erotic icon. It marks the opening of Klimt's 'Golden Phase' and, alongside 'The Kiss' and 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I', is the defining image of Vienna Secession painting.

Exhibition Venue

Belvedere 21

Landstraße, Austria