Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her maid servant. ca. 1613-1614. Oil on canvas, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy.

Judith and Abra have just killed Holofernes and are preparing to decamp with his head. At a tense moment, they react to a sound, perhaps a guard stirring. Many male artists have depicted Judith as standing triumphant with Holofernes's head, but Artemisia chooses to capture the danger and risk.

Judith is a solid, mature woman, quite unidealised in her looks, but dressed in the clothes of a noblewoman. She is alert to the danger of her mission, but registers caution rather than fear. The ornament in her hair features a picture of a man with a lance and shield, probably David, decapitator of Goliath, the male equivalent of Judith. The image honours one of the landmarks of the Florentine Piazza, Michelangelo's standing statue of David.