The violent subject of Judith with the head of Holofernes is from the Old Testament Apocrypha, and was usually interpreted as a symbol of Jewish triumph over Assyrian oppressors. After the Jewish city of Bethulia was besieged by the Assyrians and Judith deviously entered the Assyrian camp disguised as a refugee. There she gained the confidence of Holofernes, the Assyrian general, and as he was about to seduce her, she decapitated him.

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