The Book of Judith tells the story of a fictitious Jewish woman beheading Holofernes, the general of a powerful army, to free her people. The story has fascinated artists and authors for centuries, and is becoming a major field of research in its own right. The Sword of Judith is the first multidisciplinary collection of essays to discuss representations of Judith throughout the centuries. Bringing together scholars from around the world, it transforms our understanding of Judith’s enduring story across a wide range of disciplines. The book includes sections on Judith in Christian, Jewish and secular textual traditions, as well as representations of Judith in art, music and theatre. The collection includes new archival source studies and the translation of unpublished manuscripts and texts previously unavailable in English.
These essays, by presenting translations of unpublished manuscripts, analyzing new archival sources, and exploring Judith’s representation in narrative, poetry, art, music and theatre, demonstrate how Judith serves as a template for marking changing views of politics, ethics, gender roles and theology from the Patristic period to the nineteenth century.
Amy-Jill Levine
"The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies across the Disciplines ed. by Kevin R. Brine, Elena Ciletti and Henrike Lähnemann". Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues (1565-5288), vol. 24, 2013.
A vast collection of images of Judith and Holofernes is available on ARTstor. Please note that the ARTstor collection requires institutional access.
The New York Public Library is host to The Judith Project, which is a multidisciplinary collaborative effort under the academic guidance of a distinguished panel of Judith scholars from around the world. The mission of The Judith Project is to enhance scholarship on The Book of Judith and on the theme of Judith and Holofernes in Western culture from antiquity to the present. The project's website contains more information, together with a comprehensive bibliographic reference tool.
Kevin R. Brine
Deborah Levine Gera
Elena Ciletti and Henrike Lähnemann
Barbara Schmitz
Deborah Levine Gera
Susan Weingarten
Ruth von Bernuth and Michael Terry
Marc Mastrangelo
Tracey-Anne Cooper
John Nassichuk
Kathleen M. Llewellyn
Robert Cummings
Henrike Lähnemann
Janet Bartholomew
Elizabeth Bailey
Roger J. Crum
Sarah Blake McHam
Diane Apostolos-Cappadona
Elena Ciletti
Kelley Harness
David Marsh
Paolo Bernardini
Alexandre Lhâa
Jann Pasler
Gabrijela Mecky Zaragoza
Abbreviations
Index