# Judith with the Head of Holofernes

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/judith-with-the-head-of-holofernes-r1035204d78468d>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [COSTER, Adam de](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5>)
- Date: 1601-1650
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 144 x 155 cm

## Commentary

Adam de Coster specialized in nocturnes with candlelight effects, one of the most typical expressions of the &#39;tenebroso&#39; style of painting. Apart from obvious genre scenes these also include religious history pieces such as Judith with the Head of Holofernes, which as a night scene and in the grisliness of the story depicted lends itself perfectly to a Caravaggesque interpretation. The use of camouflaged candlelight links De Coster&#39;s work to similar paintings done in the 1620s by the influential Utrecht painter Gerrit van Honthorst.

## Related artworks

- [A Man Singing by Candlelight](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/a-man-singing-by-candlelight-re4d6c520ede474>)
- [Card Players by Candlelight \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/card-players-by-candlelight-detail-r063a96b83e33d2>)
- [Card Players by Candlelight](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/card-players-by-candlelight-radd3f54161f921>)
- [Three Singers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/three-singers-ra999fef12b0394>)
- [Young Woman Holding a Distaff \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/young-woman-holding-a-distaff-detail-rf6d928d1bf5405>)
- [Young Woman Holding a Distaff](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/coster-adam-de-r9ec889168267f5/young-woman-holding-a-distaff-r9f75d1a4d4cb4f>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)
