In Our Time: Culture

Judith beheading Holofernes


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how artists from the Middle Ages onwards have been inspired by the Bible story of the widow who killed an Assyrian general who was besieging her village, and so saved her people from his army and from his master Nebuchadnezzar. A symbol of a woman's power and the defiance of political tyranny, the image of Judith has been sculpted by Donatello, painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and, in the case of Caravaggio, Liss and Artemisia Gentileschi, been shown with vivid, disturbing detail. What do these interpretations reveal of the attitudes to power and women in their time, and of the artists' own experiences?

The image of Judith, above is from a tapestry in the Duomo, Milan, by Giovanni or Nicola Carcher, 1555

With

Susan Foister

Curator of Early Netherlandish, German and British Painting at the National Gallery

John Gash

Senior Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Aberdeen

And

Ela Nutu Hall

Research Associate at the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, at the University of Sheffield

Producer: Simon Tillotson

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our Time: CultureBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

595 ratings


More shows like In Our Time: Culture

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,865 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

315 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,073 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,569 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,805 Listeners

HistoryExtra podcast by Immediate

HistoryExtra podcast

3,203 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,898 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

876 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

754 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

280 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

298 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,767 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,055 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

500 Listeners

Start the Week by BBC Radio 4

Start the Week

159 Listeners

Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

Bookclub

243 Listeners

The TLS Podcast by The TLS

The TLS Podcast

180 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,216 Listeners

The Missing Cryptoqueen by BBC Sounds

The Missing Cryptoqueen

1,026 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

783 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,021 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,584 Listeners

Empire: World History by Goalhanger

Empire: World History

2,514 Listeners

Past Present Future by David Runciman

Past Present Future

346 Listeners