Judith

A reversed print after 'Judith', a painting by Giorgione now in the Hermitage, St Petersburg (inv. no. ГЭ-95). This print is lettered with the title and a previous location of the painting. Signed by the printmaker and numbered "33".

This print was part of the "Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France" (also known as 'Recueil Crozat'), a series of plates commissioned by Pierre Crozat, with 140 plates published in 1729 and a second volume in 1740.

This painting – now generally accepted to have been executed by the young Giorgione – was previously in the collection of Pierre Crozat and it was then attributed to Raphael. Passavant (see Bibliographic References) and Ruland (1876) ascribed it to Alessandro Bonvicino, so-called il Moretto. 'Judith' was originally painted on wood and it was transferred to canvas at the beginning of the 19th century; at the same time, the sides, which were added to the original painting in the 18th century, were trimmed off (see Bibliographic References).