Judith With The Head Of Holofernes, After Allori, Engraved By Cantini, Dir. Morghen, 1802

GIOVACCHINO CANTINI
JUDITH WITH THE HEAD OF HOLOFERNES

GIOVACCHINO CANTINI
Florence 1780–1844 Florence

CRISTOFANO ALLORI
Florence 1577–1621 Florence
after Cristofano Allori, called Il Bronzino

Etching and engraving on paper, signed "Cristofano Allori d. il Bronzino dip. Giovacchino Cantini dis. e inc. 1802", "Raffaello Morghen diresse",
dedicated A SUA MAESTÀ LODOVICO PRIMO, Re d’Etruria, Infante di Spagna, Principe Eredrio di Parma, Piacenza, e Guastalla &c. &c. &c.
37 × 26 cm / 14.6 × 10.2 in, with modern frame 52 × 43 cm / 20.5 × 16.9 in

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Vienna

A print is rarely the work of a single hand. It is often the result of a carefully orchestrated collaboration between multiple artists, each contributing a distinct skill to the final image. The elaborate inscription beneath this engraving depicting Judith with the Head of Holofernes is a perfect testament to this shared authorship.

The original composition was painted by Cristofano Allori (1577–1621), one of the most refined painters of the Florentine Seicento, as noted in the inscription Cristofano Allori d. il Bronzino dip. His Judith with the Head of Holofernes, now preserved in the Palatine Gallery of the Pitti Palace in Florence, became one of the most celebrated treasures of the Medici collection in Florence.

Over two centuries later, the image was meticulously translated into print by Giovacchino Cantini (1780–1844), who both drew and engraved the plate, as recorded in the inscription “Giovacchino Cantini dis. e inc. 1802.” The work was executed under the direction of the renowned engraver Raffaello Morghen, whose name appears as “Raffaello Morghen diresse”—a mark of his oversight and artistic guidance.

In Allori’s interpretation of the biblical tale, the heroine Judith appears as a courtly beauty of striking elegance, holding the severed head of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the hair. At her side stands her maidservant Abra, equally composed. The scene is devoid of immediate violence; instead, it radiates cold detachment, dignity, and restraint—qualities that appealed to the refined sensibilities of early seventeenth-century Florence.

It has often been noted that the features of Judith in Allori’s painting were based on his former mistress, while the severed head of Holofernes is said to be a self-portrait of the artist. This deeply personal and psychologically charged interpretation added to the enduring fascination of the image—a reading that found particular resonance in the pre-Romantic age.

The finished engraving is not merely a reproduction—it is a refined interpretation of a masterpiece, filtered through the neoclassical sensibility of early 19th-century Florence. Its formal dedication to King Ludovico I of Etruria further anchors the work in the political and cultural fabric of its time