Judith with the Head of Holofernes

The immediacy of visual artwork allows it to have more potential to push an audience into sublime than most other form art. Visual art is bold and stationary giving the viewer no time to make sense of anything they witness before they are in a state of shock. In Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1538) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, the use of saturated colors and symbolized hierarchy reflect the underestimation of the power that belong to women.

Although there are many different shades of colors in Cranach's painting, the base colors are red, black, and blue. In the foreground, the blood of the severed head and the clothing of Judith are red, the walls of the room surrounding her are pitch black, and in the far upper right hand corner a piece of the blue ocean outside is visible. Red is a bold color and the redness of the painting symbolize not only the blood of the victim, but the boldness of Judith's act. The darkness of the blacks of the painting represent the "evil" that possessed Judith to murder a man. The blue of the ocean, a color that can reflect the image of the pure Virgin Mary, reminds the viewer of the acceptable image of women.

In the 1500's men were held to be worth more than women, but the composition of this painting contradicts that. The male severed head rests in the bottom left hand corner of the painting taking up less than 25% of the positive space being used. By contrast, the female figure is large and centered in the painting. The composition creates a sense of hierarchy putting Judith, the woman, on top with the power, power that was stolen from the man she murdered.

The colors and composition of Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1538) by Lucas Cranach the Elder reflect both the hierarchy of men and women put in place by society and women's ability to retain their rightful share of the power. It shows women taking a stance and ceasing to let men hold more power than they do, purely because they are female. Besides, there could not be reproduction of man without woman.

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