The painting ‘Judith and Holofernes’ which forms part of the national collection will be featuring prominently at the Louvre in Paris in a major retrospective exhibition entitled, Valentin de Buologne: Beyond Caravaggio.

This masterpiece was depicted by Valentin de Buologne (1591-1632). The greatest French follower of Caravaggio, de Buologne was one of the outstanding artists in the 17th century Europe and following Caravaggio’s death, he emerged as one of the most original protagonists of the new, naturalistic painting.

The painting was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York until January 16 and has now been transferred to Paris to be displayed at the Louvre between Monday and May 22.

The exhibition is commemorating de Buologne with a monographic exhibition. His works are very rare with only 60 paintings attributed to him.

This exhibition is bringing together 45 masterpieces. Back in Malta, 'Judith and Holofernes will be exhibited at MUŻA, which is scheduled to open next year.

This is an exceptional loan from Heritage Malta’s museum collection which was, incidentally, also loaned to the previous and last international exhibition about French followers of Caravaggio, including Valentin de Buologne, held at the French Academy in Rome, and the Grand Palais in Paris in 1973.