Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes (also known as Artemisia Receiving Mausolus' Ashes and Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Cup) is a painting by the Dutch master Rembrandt. It is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. It is signed "REMBRANDT F: 1634".
The subject of the picture was unclear for centuries. It portrays a young woman, formerly identified as Sophonisba or Artemisia, or a generic queen due to her jewels and rich garments, receiving a cup from a maiden.Catalog nr. 223 for "Sophonisba taking the Poisoned Cup" in Rembrandt catalog raisonné, 1914, by Cornelis Hofstede de GrootOld 1896 Prado catalog entry nr. 1544 for "Queen Artemisia in the act of receiving the cup which contains, mixed with the liquor, the ashes of her husband Mausolius. Portrait of Rembrandt's wife." Today it is considered to be Judith at the banquet of Holofernes.Museum website
For the woman, Rembrandt probably used his wife Saskia as model.
In literature The painting is the subject of an extended meditation in Spanish author Javier Marías's 1992 novel Corazón tan blanco (published in English as A Heart So White), in which a character reflects on the painting's dual iconographic reading—as either Artemisia of Caria or Sophonisba—while another character, a museum guard, threatens to destroy the painting with a cigarette lighter.
See also List of paintings by Rembrandt
References