Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c.1616 Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Peter Paul Rubens also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Judith with the Head of Holofernes is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

Rubens' "Judith with the Head of Holofernes" is a feast of light and shadow that grips the viewer with its dramatic intensity. The Flemish master conjures a scene of terrible beauty, capturing the moment just after Judith's bloody deed.

The painting's focal point is Judith herself - a study in contrasts. Her face, bathed in an ethereal glow, betrays a mix of determination and barely concealed revulsion. Rubens lavishes attention on her exposed flesh, rendering her shoulder and décolletage with a luminosity that seems to pulse with life.

Beside her, an aged crone leans in urgently. This wizened figure serves as both visual and narrative counterpoint to Judith's youthful radiance. Her gnarled hands and weathered face speak of a lifetime's hard experience - perhaps steeling Judith for the grim task at hand.

The titular head of Holofernes dangles from Judith's grasp, a grotesque trophy partially shrouded in shadow. Rubens doesn't shy away from the horror, yet he refrains from reveling in gore. Instead, the severed head becomes a dark anchor, grounding the composition and reminding us of the story's brutal reality.

Inky blackness swallows the background, focusing our attention squarely on this moment of triumph and revulsion. Rubens wields light like a weapon, carving his figures from the gloom with theatrical flair.

For art lovers, this painting is a sumptuous banquet. Rubens demonstrates his mastery of anatomy, drapery, and most crucially, the interplay of light and shadow. He transforms a violent biblical tale into a meditation on heroism, mortality, and the sometimes blurry line between righteousness and horror.