Léon Comerre, 1850 - 1916, FRENCH
JUDITH
Oil on canvas
49 by 26.5cm., 19 by 10½in.
Private collection
The Book of Judith is the Old Testament of the Bible. The story revolves around
Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen
for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes
with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she
slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites.
Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a
drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful
countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is
saved. Though she is courted by many, Judith remains unmarried for the rest of
her life. More
on The Book of Judith
Léon François Comerre (10 October 1850 – 20
February 1916) was a French academic painter, famous for his portraits of beautiful
women. Comerre was born in Trélon, in the
Département du Nord, the son of a schoolteacher. He moved to Lille with his
family in 1853. From an early age he showed an interest in art and became a
student of Alphonse Colas at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille, winning a gold
medal in 1867. From 1868 a grant from the Département du Nord allowed him to
continue his studies in Paris at the famous École nationale supérieure des
Beaux-Arts in the studio of Alexandre Cabanel. There he came under the
influence of orientalism.
Comerre first exhibited at the Paris Salon in
1871 and went on to win prizes in 1875 and 1881. In 1875 he won the Grand Prix
de Rome. This led to a scholarship at the French Academy in Rome from January
1876 to December 1879. In 1885 he won a prize at the "Exposition
Universelle" in Antwerp. He also won prestigious art prizes in the USA
(1876) and Australia (1881 and 1897). He became a Knight of the Legion of
Honour in 1903. More
Léon Comerre
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