Thursday, February 9, 2012

What Lucrezia saw in her garden . . .

. . . and what might have inspired one of her literary creations, is this sculpture by Donatello, "Judith and Holofernes."  Currently this sculpture is in the Hall of Lilies in the Palazzo Vecchio, and a copy has been placed outside, in the Piazza della Signoria, but when first commissioned by the Medici family, this sculpture along with Donatello's more famous "David" graced the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici (see post of Jan 29).

One of the stanzas of Lucrezia's poem about this biblical story from the Book of Judith reads:  
 Once she had said her prayer
Judith rose, her heart resolved,
and in one hand she grasped a sword she had found
leaning against a column or the wall,
and so well did the young woman brandish it
it would have been fitting for a strong and sturdy man;
she struck him twice, with force,
and his head rolled away from his shoulders.

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