In this work, the forms of handling of the legend of "Judith and Holofernes", formerly known as Ahite "apocryphal text", by Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentisleschi from early Baroque painters were searched in the history of art. The investigators were similar to the Judith and Holofernes myth, and the psychological reasons for this approach were examined. Shortly after Caravaggio, the first painter to show the moment of dismemberment with feelings of violence, hatred and grudge, Artemisia also depicted this subject in a similar way to Caravaggio. In the history of art, very few painters have chosen to show Judith's cut of the head of Holofernes without leaving his body. For this reason, these two works are rare artifacts that show the moment of interruption in art history. In these two works, Carravaggio and Artemisia convey Judith and Holofernes myth to the audience with the intensity of violence in a successful composition fiction. In this article, the life stories and styles of Caravaggio and Artemisia were taken into consideration and analyzed in terms of the message they gave about the topic. As a result, it is revealed that Caravaggio and Artemisia have different approaches than the usual "Judith and Holofernes" paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque period, and they constitute a source of their own contemporaries and their followers.

Keywords: Judith and Holofernes, Barok, Art, Caravaggio, Artemisia