What the painting shows

Judith I by Klimt presents the biblical widow Judith holding the severed head of General Holofernes. Gustav Klimt completed this vertical oil painting in 1901, accenting the canvas with gold leaf. Sized at 84 by 42 centimeters, the canvas gives Judith a tall, slender presence. When you look at the composition, you are met by a figure who confronts the viewer directly, projecting calm assurance and intense seduction.

Judith stands centrally within the narrow canvas. Klimt balances the verticality of her body with deliberate horizontal lines across the image. Her raised left arm forms a horizontal shelf near the lower right, while a thick golden collar encircles her neck. The base of her voluminous dark hair forms another horizontal line, anchoring her against the decorative background.

Judith holds her head slightly raised in a posture of pride. Her sensual face features parted lips that reveal her upper teeth, projecting an attitude between defiance and seduction. Her eyes gaze forward through half-closed lids with an expression of pleasure. Klimt transfigured her facial features to exude voluptuousness and perversion, placing her on an unattainable plane of allure.

Her dark black hair rises into a voluminous, fashionable cloud typical of high-society Vienna in 1901. This dark mass creates a stark contrast with the golden luminosity of the background, enhancing her elegance and exaltation. Klimt framed her hairdo with stylized tree motifs that fan outward across both upper corners, with golden branches and decorative foliage that enclose her silhouette.

Around her neck, Judith wears an elaborate, wide golden collar adorned with stylized blue and red geometric shapes. This choker forms a sharp boundary between her expressive face and her bare chest. Behind her, the background glistens with flat gold leaf, patterned with delicate scales and small star-shaped dots that suggest a decorative, abstract sky.

Judith wears a disheveled, semi-sheer garment in dark green tones that drapes loosely over her shoulder, leaving her torso nearly bare. Klimt uses this revealing clothing to reference her seduction of General Holofernes before his decapitation. Ornate gold leaf patterns, including spiraling curls and circular rosettes, drift across the sheer fabric, while Klimt’s signature appears in the lower left corner.

At the lower right margin, Holofernes’ head appears cut off by the edge of the frame. Klimt shows only the general’s dark hair, closed eye, and bearded profile as Judith cradles him with her left hand. Klimt omits any trace of a bloodied sword. The moment of seduction seems to coalesce directly with the execution, leaving Judith in quiet triumph.

The painting rests inside an original metal frame crafted by the artist’s brother, Georg Klimt. Across the top, hammered lettering spells out the German title: JVDITH VND HOLOFERNES. This decorative metalwork signals the opening of Klimt’s gold period. The canvas also stands among his defining allegories, transforming an ancient story into an exploration of feminine power.

The story behind it

The subject comes from the biblical Book of Judith. General Holofernes leads an Assyrian army to besiege the Jewish town of Bethulia. Facing starvation, the town prepares to surrender. Judith, a wealthy and pious widow, intervenes to save her people. She dresses in fine garments, enters the enemy camp under the pretense of an alliance, and gains Holofernes’ trust.

Charmed by her beauty, Holofernes hosts a private banquet in his tent, where he drinks heavily and collapses into sleep. Judith unsheathes his sword, cuts off his head with two blows, and carries the severed head back to Bethulia. When the Assyrians discover their dead general, panic breaks out, and the Jewish forces defeat the invading army.

Traditional art depicted Judith as a modest, devout widow fulfilling a solemn religious duty. Klimt broke with this convention, reimagining Judith as an erotic femme fatale with a sexual subtext. By removing the sword and all signs of battle, Klimt concentrates pictorially on Judith, turning a sacred victory into a personal act of seduction and conquest.

Judith’s facial features depict Viennese socialite Adele Bloch-Bauer, who was Klimt’s friend and possible lover. Adele’s distinct appearance also features in Klimt’s 1898 painting Pallas Athena, as well as two later individual portraits in 1907 and 1912. For Judith I, Klimt adapted Adele’s likeness into an image of dangerous, magnetic fascination.

The composition shares symbolic elements with Franz von Stuck’s 1893 painting The Sin, which provided a model for Klimt’s femme fatale. Judith also displays archetypal traits of charming and bewitching women described by Symbolist figures such as Oscar Wilde, Viktor Vasnetsov, and Gustave Moreau. Art historian Franz A. J. Szabo described the work as a symbol of the triumph of the erotic feminine principle over the aggressive masculine one.

When the painting was first exhibited, contemporary critics misidentified the subject as Salome, the title figure of Oscar Wilde’s 1891 tragedy. Audiences found it easier to associate such overt eroticism and cruelty with Salome rather than with Judith. To prevent confusion, Klimt had his brother Georg engrave the title Judith and Holofernes on the metal frame.

In 1903, author and critic Felix Salten described Judith’s expression as having sultry fire in her dark glances, cruelty in her mouth, and nostrils trembling with passion. Klimt later painted a second version, Judith II, in 1909. While the 1901 work radiates sensuality and calm allure, Judith II depicts her with sharper traits and a fierce expression. You can trace this evolution across his career in our survey of Klimt paintings.

Where to see it

Judith I hangs in the permanent collection of the Belvedere in Vienna, Austria. The work is displayed in the Upper Belvedere palace, where it forms a central part of the museum’s collection of Austrian Secession art.

Viewing the original painting allows you to see how the gold leaf and oil paint reflect gallery light. The contrast between Judith’s dark hair and the luminous gold background is much clearer in person than in photographs. You can also examine the original hammered metal frame crafted by Georg Klimt, which remains attached to the canvas.

Vienna holds the world’s largest public collection of Gustav Klimt’s art. To see Judith I alongside his other major canvases, consult our guide to where to see Klimt paintings before you plan your visit.