A preparatory study by de Vos for one of a series of four anonymous engravings illustrating the story of Judith and Holofernes, as described in the Apocryphal book of Judith. This drawing shows a rarely-depicted episode from early in the story (2:4-12), when Holofernes, chief captain of the Assyrian army, was summoned by his King and ordered to oversee the slaying of all the disobedient peoples of the earth. It was in order to bring the resulting slaughter to an end that Judith tricked her way into Holofernes' confidence and killed him