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Gentileschi centers her work on the labor of the killing, which forces the gaze to start amid the tangle of blood, limbs, and metal. Her ability to display brutal realism is shown particularly in the details, such as the arc of carotid blood that spatters across the frame. This scene displays the use of chiaroscuro, or the drastic contrast between light and dark, both literally and figuratively.Holofernes struggles in vain to press against Abra as the two women force him down with distinctly strong arms. Their sleeves are rolled up, as though they are performing an unavoidable domestic chore, and their faces express a staunch resolve. Judith drives the sword, which is noticeably vertical and shaped in a way that alludes to a cross, into flesh with an exertive force. Abra is depicted as almost a mirror to Judith, with a youthful appearance that departs from earlier portrayals of her character. She holds firm to the left arm of her fellow victim as he pushes against her breast in desperation. Holofernes, whose blood puddles and spurts a deep red to contrast the white sheets of his deathbed, is overpowered and without hope.
realism left chiaroscuro Holofernes