Judith

Correggio painted the intimate scene around 1510-1514, showing Judith and her maidservant with the head of Holofernes. The small panel measures just 30 by 22 cm, yet it represents an important early work by the master of the Parma school. It may have been commissioned by Isabella d'Este, the celebrated Renaissance patron and collector.

The painting reveals the profound influence of Andrea Mantegna, from whom Correggio borrowed the tight mid-body framing. Two Judith paintings by Mantegna in Dublin and Montreal served as compositional models. This was also Correggio's first night scene, anticipating the dramatic chiaroscuro lighting that would later define his ceiling paintings. His use of dynamic composition and illusionistic effects prefigured both Baroque and Rococo art.

The work is held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg in France. It was later part of the Gonzaga collection in Mantua before being acquired from the Fairfax Murray collection in London in 1892.