Judith with the head of Holofernes

The painting is dated to 1617 according to the artwork’s internal catalogue and its Wikidata entry, although some scholarship places its execution between 1610 and 1615. It was owned by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, then passed to Bartolomeo della Nave and James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, before entering the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it remains. The work appears in David Teniers the Younger’s Theatrum Pictorium of the Archduke’s collection in 1659 and again in 1673, indicating early prominence.

Stylistically, it reflects Saraceni’s first decade in Rome, showing Caravaggesque influence and a tenebrist use of candlelight. A version or autograph copy is also recorded in the Dayton Art Institute.

The painting is held in the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. Its accession number is 1952.3.

It was recorded in David Teniers the Younger’s 1659 catalog of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria’s collection and again in the 1673 edition of Theatrum Pictorium, where it was listed as work number 39.

Created between 1610 and 1615, this work exemplifies Carlo Saraceni's first decade in Rome, a period defined by his assimilation of Caravaggist principles. The painting demonstrates the artist's adoption of chiaroscuro, specifically utilizing candlelight effects characteristic of the tenebrist movement. While a version dated 1617 is held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, an autograph copy resides in the Dayton Art Institute.

The composition gained early scholarly and historical recognition through its inclusion in David Teniers the Younger's 1659 catalog, Theatrum Pictorium, which documented the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. This appearance in a major 17th-century inventory underscores the work's established reputation among contemporary collectors and its integration into the broader narrative of Baroque religious art.

Carlo Saraceni's painting achieved early notoriety and lasting documentary significance through its inclusion in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. The work's reputation was cemented when David Teniers the Younger portrayed the Archduke's art collection, bringing broader visibility to the canvas. It was subsequently cataloged in Teniers' seminal 1659 publication Theatrum Pictorium, and documented again in 1673, ensuring the composition's legacy within the historical record of major European art collections.

Carlo Saraceni’s oil painting titled Judith with the Head of Holofernes dates from roughly 1610‑1615 and is part of the collection of the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio. The work depicts the biblical heroine Judith holding the severed head of the Assyrian general Holofernes, rendered in a compact, dramatic composition.