Judith with the Head of Holophernes.

Hans Kemmer was a Lübeck painter whose work stands within the tradition of Northern German Renaissance painting, absorbing influences from both Flemish painting and the German tradition of Cranach and Dürer. The subject of Judith with the Head of Holofernes — the Old Testament widow who saved Israel by decapitating the Assyrian general — was one of the most potent images of female heroism and civic virtue in the sixteenth century, frequently associated with tyrannicide and political liberation. Kemmer's treatment in the National Museum in Wrocław presents the subject within a straightforward devotional and narrative frame, typical of how Northern German painters engaged with Old Testament heroines.

Judith is presented frontally or in three-quarter view, the severed head held at her side as an attribute. Kemmer's handling follows Northern German conventions of precise, linear drapery and direct tonal contrasts. The palette of deep red and green against flesh tones gives the composition strong visual impact.