The Fondaco dei Tedeschi had
burned to the ground in 1504, and the Venetian government hastened to rebuild
the structure so important to its trade with the North. The new building was finished
by 1507, and the young Giorgione was given the commission to decorate the
exterior walls. The commission was a sign of Giorgione’s elevated artistic
status, and its completion only added to his fame. The Venetian weather
eventually did havoc on the Fondaco frescoes but the spectacular figures and
colors were still evident when Vasari saw them a little more than three decades
after Giorgione’s death.
Although extremely impressed,
Vasari confessed that he could not understand the subject or the meaning of
much of the work. He concluded that in the Fondaco frescoes, Giorgione
thought only of demonstrating his techniques as a painter by representing various figures according to his own fancy. Indeed, there are no scenes to be found there with any order or representing the deeds of any distinguished person, of either the ancient or the modern world. And I for my part have never been able to understand his figures nor, for all my asking, have I ever found anyone who does. In these frescoes one sees, in various attitudes, a man in one place, a woman standing in another, one figure accompanied by the head of a lion, another by an angel in the guise of a cupid; and heaven knows what it all means. *[274-5]
However, Vasari did identify one
figure as the biblical heroine Judith. **
Over the door which leads to the storerooms
for the wares, a seated figure of a woman is depicted. She has the head of a
dead giant at her feet, as is the custom in representations of Judith; and this
head she is raising with a sword, while speaking, at the same time, to a figure
in the German habit, who is standing, still further beneath her. What or whom
this figure may be intended to represent, I have never been able to determine,
unless, indeed, it be meant for a figure of Germany. [275]
Fortunately, we have a print copy
of the Judith fresco from a seventeenth century engraving. It shows Judith
dressed in the finery described in the biblical account, with her bare leg
resting on the head of Holophernes. *** At the bottom left is a half-length
figure of an armored warrior who looks up at Judith. Given that the Fondaco was
the German center, I suppose it was natural for Vasari to claim that the man in
the scene represented Germany. Interestingly, like many art historians since
his time, when Vasari has difficulty identifying a figure he gives it an
allegorical interpretation.
I believe that the identity of
the man in the Judith fresco can be discovered by taking a closer look at the
Book of Judith. Whether in Vasari’s time or ours, churchgoers tend to be aware
only of the highlights of biblical stories. But even a quick reading of the
relatively short Book of Judith shows that a foreign warrior played a key role
in the narrative. It is Achior, the leader of a contingent of Ammonite mercenaries
serving in the army of Holophernes.
At the outset of the story
Holophernes had asked his various lieutenants for information about the
Israelites who dared to oppose his army from their mountain fortress of
Bethulia. Achior came forward and recounted the history of the Israelites and
the many times that their God had delivered them from adversity. He concluded
that unless the Israelites had offended their God, it would do no good to
attack them. Holophernes was shocked by this impudent prophecy, and had Achior
left bound hand and foot near the Israelite walls to fulfill a prophecy of his
own.
As for you, Achior, you Ammonite mercenary, who in a rash moment said these words, you shall not see my face again until the day when I have taken my revenge on this brood of fugitives from Egypt….you will not die, until you share their ruin. ****
The Israelites took Achior into
their stronghold and treated him well after they heard his account of what had
transpired with Holophernes.
The rest of the story was well
known during the Renaissance. Although the book of Judith came to be rejected
by Protestant scholars, it was very popular in the early Christian church, and
its popularity continued right into the Baroque era in Catholic circles. During
the Renaissance Judith was often paired with David for both were examples of God
using the weak to triumph over the strong. Judith also came to be seen as a
prototype of Mary.
However, the little known Achior
made one more appearance at the end of the narrative. After Judith brought the
head of Holophernes to the Israelite camp, she asked that Achior view the enemy
general’s head in a kind of ironic twist to Holophernes’ own prophecy.
“call me Achior the Ammonite for him to see the man who thought so meanly of the House of Israel and recognize this as the man who sent him to us as a man already doomed to die.”…No sooner had he arrived and seen the head of Holophernes held by a member of the people’s assembly than he fell down on his face in a faint. They lifted him up. He then threw himself at the feet of Judith, and prostrate before her exclaimed:
May you be blessed in all the temples of Judah
And in every nation;
At the sound of your name
Men will be seized with dread….
Subsequently, Achior professed his
belief in the God of the Israelites, was circumcised and converted.
Vasari was mistaken in his
identification of the warrior on the Judith fresco but there still could be a
bit of allegory involved in its placement on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. I suspect that the placement of this
scene on the Fondaco wall was a sign of the relationship between Venice and the
German community in Venice. It is not hard to imagine that Venice was
represented there by Judith, and the German community by the foreign Warrior
looking up at her.
###
*Giorgio
Vasari, Lives of the Artists, Volume
I, a selection translated by George Bull, Penguin Books, 1968. All selections
from Vasari are from these editions. Page numbers are in brackets.
**Vasari
attributed this fresco to Giorgione but its location on the Merceria side of
the Fondaco would indicate that it was done by Titian. However, I do believe
that Giorgione was responsible for the whole iconographic scheme including the
cartoons of all the work. In any case, this essay is about Vasari's eyewitness view and interpretation.
***
Judith’s bare leg has been discussed in an earlier post on this site.
****
All biblical quotations are from the Jerusalem Bible.
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