1535
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Tyrants of the Old Testament: Holofernes is a 1535 by Georg Pencz, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This is a black-and-white drawing of a man with a wild beard and curly hair. He wears a crown of leaves and holds a sword in one hand while a severed head dangles from the other. His face looks fierce, almost angry, and the lines in the drawing show strong shadows and textures. The title says this is *Holofernes*, a figure from the Old Testament. His leafy crown and the head suggest he’s a defeated enemy in a story about war and victory. Next, look up chiaroscuro to see how artists use light and shadow like this.
Georg Pencz (c. 1500 – 11 October 1550) was a German engraver, painter and printmaker. Pencz was probably born in Westheim near Bad Windsheim/Franconia. He travelled to Nuremberg in 1523 and joined Albrecht Dürer’s…
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