The Baroque era arose from the Counter-Reformation of the Roman Catholic Church, during which the Church made considerable efforts to strengthen the relationship between the secular world and the order religious. In an effort to engage ordinary people and create piety, the Catholic Church wanted art to appeal to human emotions. Gentileschi accomplishes this successfully in his painting, Judith Slaying Holofernes. By infusing the apocryphal tale of Judith with dramatic techniques such as chiaroscuro and foreshortening, he created a deeply moving and realistic work of art that engages the viewer physically and emotionally, which is quintessential to the Baroque style. With the number of people losing faith in Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church needed to find a way to reaffirm the Catholic faith in people, and since many people during this time were illiterate, the church needed a method of universal communication. Art, being a medium that only needs to be seen to be understood, was used to portray very direct, passionate and realistic scenes, mostly religious, which could be understood by anyone regardless of literacy and social status. To achieve this goal Gentileschi does not paint idealized figures, like those of the first Renaissance paintings, but the subjects are simple, more figurative and dressed in simple clothes that even the most ordinary people liked. Painted with chiaroscuro adds grandeur to the work and this, combined with the foreshortening, creates a sense of movement and energy that completes the illusion that makes the viewer feel as if they are in the same room witnessing the act. Baroque art in Italy is typically represented dramatic scene... in the center of the sheet... of the servant and Judith who appear collected and concentrated with intense concentration and diligence in the task. By incorporating such a dramatic expression onto the faces and bodies of the figures, the viewer can empathize and almost feel the pure pain depicted on Holofernes' face, as well as the intensity and urgency of the two women's task. Gentileschi's Judith Slaying Holofernes embodies the style of Italian Baroque era artwork. Using a Catholic subject and key elements and techniques essential to Baroque art such as chiaroscuro and foreshortening, she was able to create a work that oozes drama and realism. Without the use of all these elements the effect would be lost, but instead the piece moves the viewer with its direct and raw realism of the religious subject, evoking emotions in a way that leaves the viewer speechless..