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Heroine of A Thousand Pieces: The Judith Mosaics of Lilian Broca
Once upon a time, in a Jewish city called Bethulia, there lived a beautiful, young widow named Judith who was mourning the loss of her husband, Manasseh.
When the Assyrians threatened to overrun the city, the town fathers were unwilling to take responsibility for defence of their city against the marauders led by Holofernes.
So Judith rose to the occasion by no longer disguising her beauty.
The elders are astounded when she appears before them in opulent robes and jewellery.
"May the God of our ancestors grant you favour,"; they say, "and make your design successful for the glory of the Israelites and the exaltation of Jerusalem.";
Judith set forth for the enemy camp, accompanied only by her maid.
General Holofernes and his troops "marvelled at her beauty, regarding the Israelites with wonder because of her, and they said to one another, 'Who can despise this people who have such women among them?'";
The Assyrian soldiers left Judith unharmed and allowed her to observe her Jewish rituals for several nights until Holofernes, intending to have her as his concubine, invited her to dine with him...
He intends to rape her, if necessary, but the wiley and alluring Judith succeeds in getting him drunk.
Judith beheads Holofernes with a sword when he is inebriated and asleep.
The unsullied heroine and her maid hurry back to Bethulia with Holofernes' head in a bag.
Shocked by the assassination, the Assyrians flee.
Judith takes the head of Holofernes to the Temple of Jerusalem where she is accorded the honours of a male hero. Instead of accepting riches, Judith chooses the independent life of a devout widow, refusing to remarry, remaining childless.
Painters throughout history have depicted how a chaste Jewish temptress named Judith beheaded an oppressive invader named Holofernes to save her people from oblivion.
Heroine of A Thousand Pieces: The Judith Mosaics of Lilian Broca (Italian Cultural Centre $25) explores and reveals how Lilian Broca's mosaic cycle of seven tile works has reinterpreted the story of Judith that was first recorded around 163-142 BCE.
This mythical tale can be viewed as an amalgam of Scheherazade, Mata Hari, Salome and David vs. Goliath-depicting a femme fatal as a saviour of the Jews-but the fictional story of Judith also connects on religious and feminist grounds.
Contributor Yosef Wosk outlines in chapter two the deeper meanings of the Judith story-including how Judith can be viewed as personification of Israel itself.
It doesn't matter that the city of Bethulia never existed or that Assyrians in the story were said to be ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian. The power of the story lies in metaphor.
"Judith lived the rest of her long life, 105 years, in pious integrity and dignified nobility,"; Wosk concludes, "she became a legend in her own time but the concept of personal happiness was as rare as it was foreign to her generation.
"Happiness was contingent upon the nation, the people, the family, deity and the dedication to duty. The book's twin engines-wrapped in drama and charged by suspense-are patriotism and piety.
"May we continue to be inspired by the study of Judith's exploits and the telling of her story-mosaic and archetype, real or imagined. May her actions, and ours, be made of such memory that will be handed down to our descendants from age to worthy age.";
By downplaying the sensationalism of the story-seduction and murder-the character of Judith has been revered as the mother of the Hebrews, in Wosk's words, "as if it was she who had given birth to all she had saved.";
Judith is Hebrew for Jewish woman. Betulia in Hebrew is virginity. As depicted by Broca and articulated by Wosk, it was Judith's virtuous self-discipline that triumphed over the excess and debauchery of Holofernes as much as it was her beauty.
Judith is shown meeting the town's elders, praying in the desert. She is not a voluptuous assassin; instead she has a modest demeanor when she displays her trophy. In this way, devoutness, chastity, ingenuity and courage are celebrated.
Around 2002, Lilian Broca starting importing high quality glass from Orsoni in Venice. For her depiction of the story of Judith, Broca has opted for the Baroque style of the seventeenth century to better incorporate the theatrical gestures and emotional expressions of the heroine.
The subject matter of Heroine of A Thousand Pieces was suggested to Broca by Adolfo D. Roitman, curator of the Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, who has contributed an introductory chapter on theological themes. Other contributers to the book are Sheila Campbell, Angela Clarke, with a foreward by Rosa Graci.
978-0-9948658-0-9
When the Assyrians threatened to overrun the city, the town fathers were unwilling to take responsibility for defence of their city against the marauders led by Holofernes.
So Judith rose to the occasion by no longer disguising her beauty.
The elders are astounded when she appears before them in opulent robes and jewellery.
"May the God of our ancestors grant you favour,"; they say, "and make your design successful for the glory of the Israelites and the exaltation of Jerusalem.";
Judith set forth for the enemy camp, accompanied only by her maid.
General Holofernes and his troops "marvelled at her beauty, regarding the Israelites with wonder because of her, and they said to one another, 'Who can despise this people who have such women among them?'";
The Assyrian soldiers left Judith unharmed and allowed her to observe her Jewish rituals for several nights until Holofernes, intending to have her as his concubine, invited her to dine with him...
He intends to rape her, if necessary, but the wiley and alluring Judith succeeds in getting him drunk.
Judith beheads Holofernes with a sword when he is inebriated and asleep.
The unsullied heroine and her maid hurry back to Bethulia with Holofernes' head in a bag.
Shocked by the assassination, the Assyrians flee.
Judith takes the head of Holofernes to the Temple of Jerusalem where she is accorded the honours of a male hero. Instead of accepting riches, Judith chooses the independent life of a devout widow, refusing to remarry, remaining childless.
Painters throughout history have depicted how a chaste Jewish temptress named Judith beheaded an oppressive invader named Holofernes to save her people from oblivion.
Heroine of A Thousand Pieces: The Judith Mosaics of Lilian Broca (Italian Cultural Centre $25) explores and reveals how Lilian Broca's mosaic cycle of seven tile works has reinterpreted the story of Judith that was first recorded around 163-142 BCE.
This mythical tale can be viewed as an amalgam of Scheherazade, Mata Hari, Salome and David vs. Goliath-depicting a femme fatal as a saviour of the Jews-but the fictional story of Judith also connects on religious and feminist grounds.
Contributor Yosef Wosk outlines in chapter two the deeper meanings of the Judith story-including how Judith can be viewed as personification of Israel itself.
It doesn't matter that the city of Bethulia never existed or that Assyrians in the story were said to be ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian. The power of the story lies in metaphor.
"Judith lived the rest of her long life, 105 years, in pious integrity and dignified nobility,"; Wosk concludes, "she became a legend in her own time but the concept of personal happiness was as rare as it was foreign to her generation.
"Happiness was contingent upon the nation, the people, the family, deity and the dedication to duty. The book's twin engines-wrapped in drama and charged by suspense-are patriotism and piety.
"May we continue to be inspired by the study of Judith's exploits and the telling of her story-mosaic and archetype, real or imagined. May her actions, and ours, be made of such memory that will be handed down to our descendants from age to worthy age.";
By downplaying the sensationalism of the story-seduction and murder-the character of Judith has been revered as the mother of the Hebrews, in Wosk's words, "as if it was she who had given birth to all she had saved.";
Judith is Hebrew for Jewish woman. Betulia in Hebrew is virginity. As depicted by Broca and articulated by Wosk, it was Judith's virtuous self-discipline that triumphed over the excess and debauchery of Holofernes as much as it was her beauty.
Judith is shown meeting the town's elders, praying in the desert. She is not a voluptuous assassin; instead she has a modest demeanor when she displays her trophy. In this way, devoutness, chastity, ingenuity and courage are celebrated.
Around 2002, Lilian Broca starting importing high quality glass from Orsoni in Venice. For her depiction of the story of Judith, Broca has opted for the Baroque style of the seventeenth century to better incorporate the theatrical gestures and emotional expressions of the heroine.
The subject matter of Heroine of A Thousand Pieces was suggested to Broca by Adolfo D. Roitman, curator of the Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, who has contributed an introductory chapter on theological themes. Other contributers to the book are Sheila Campbell, Angela Clarke, with a foreward by Rosa Graci.
978-0-9948658-0-9
Submitted on June 2, 2016 in By David.
