The image is not available for reuse here; The Jewish Museum and the artists' representatives are invited to let Judith cross Red Square into this public history.

Open the cited record ↗

Sots Art / postmodernism · Afterlife of the story

Judith on Red Square

Komar and Melamid collaborated 1972–2003

1993

Gallery label

Two Russian-American artists relocate Judith to the symbolic center of Soviet power, turning decapitation into postmodern historical theater.

Look closely

The museum's image and tags connect biblical Judith to Soviet iconography. This text-only entry preserves the political collision while respecting the image's restricted status.

Why this Judith matters

The work makes migration, authoritarian imagery, Jewish identity, and parody coexist. It is a global afterlife made in New York, not a Russian object merely held there.

Sources for this record:The Jewish Museum record ↗

“Two Russian-American artists relocate Judith to the symbolic center of Soviet power, turning decapitation into postmodern historical theater.”

Narrative index

Primary catalogue placement: afterlife of the story, Judith 13:14–16. The index organizes comparison; it does not claim that every visual detail comes from those verses or that the work touches only one episode.

Text and evidence

The passage behind the image

See the verses in parallel public-domain translations, then return to ask what the artist has omitted, moved, or invented.

Read Judith 13:14–16 →

Image information

Copyright held by the artists or their representatives

The image is not available for reuse here; The Jewish Museum and the artists' representatives are invited to let Judith cross Red Square into this public history.

Image reuse: All rights reserved