Judith shines her light at last
Published on 17 April 2026
Ōamaru stone sculpture has been waiting for display for 15 years
Judith was a rare beauty, a widow, and a Jewish (Hebrew) heroine, renowned for defeating the invading Assyrian general Holofernes, but for the past 15 years she has been hiding away in the shadows.
Not anymore. Judith has found her place in the light thanks to Dunedin monumental mason Marcus Wainwright and the foresight of Waitaki District Council’s Arts, Culture and Libraries manager Chloe Searle.
Judith now has pride of place on a wall at the Forrester Gallery.
Masterfully crafted in Ōamaru stone in 2007, Marcus said Judith was the last of eight figurative works he had created over eight years and took him over three months to complete.
“I am very relieved to have it installed … And pretty lucky to have something so traditional installed in an art gallery.”
Former Forrester Gallery director Warwick Smith discovered his work at an exhibition in Ōtepoti Dunedin, before inviting him to exhibit with the gallery in 2011.
For the artist, Judith was not a piece that felt right to sell, and he didn’t want to take her back to Dunedin. So, he gifted her to Ōamaru’s Forrester Gallery after the exhibition.
Arts, Culture and Libraries manager Chloe Searle was thrilled to see the piece going up.
"When I learnt from the gallery's former director, Warwick Smith, that Marcus had donated this work with the intention that it would one day be incorporated into the redeveloped building, I knew we had to find a place for it as part of this project.
“It's great to be able to honour this vision," she said.
Marcus is back at Forrester Gallery, carefully making a safe space for her in an inset wall that looks like it was made just for Judith.
For him the relevance of depicting the famous painting in Ōamaru stone was down to being drawn to the emotion, the hidden meaning/s and the story of female sacrifice that he saw so clearly in the painting.
“It was an emotional response to the original painting,” he said, and not only was it the last figurative work he did, but it was also the best - in his opinion - and the one with the most value.
“One final piece, something that has meaning … something that could hold its own presence,” Marcus said.
“Judith never had a price tag. She was meant to be created for her own self.
“Hence, for me, it was a wonderful opportunity to be able to gift Judith to the gallery for her to be displayed one day.”
Judith is renowned for saving her Judean people from an impending massacre. The people were on the verge of surrendering when Judith, under the cover of night, and her handmaid snuck out of Bethulia and into Holofernes’ camp, pretending to surrender. The general was smitten by her beauty and grace. He took her to his tent where she offered him cheese and wine. Lots of wine. Holofernes fell into a deep sleep, and when he was finally out cold, Judith took his sword and chopped off his head.
The confusion this move created provided an opening for the Jews to launch a successful attack and to defeat the Assyrian forces.
Today, her influence remains strong for the Jewish People. Early rabbinic texts say the practice of eating dairy on Hanukkah is to commemorate the salty cheese that Judith fed to Holofernes to make him thirsty. It is even likely that the first latkes weren’t made from potatoes but were instead fried cheese pancakes, popular in the Middle Ages.
The Forrester Gallery reopens to the public on April 20 where you can ‘meet’ Judith, check out the hung Waitaki tartan and enjoy everything the new extension has to offer … the team is excited to show you!
A huge thank you to the Estate of Francis Ross Brown for supporting the installation of this artwork
ENDS
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