Jael, Deborah and Barak
Artist
Salomon de Bray
(Dutch, 1597 - 1664)
Dateca. 1630
Object number59.0125
Mediumoil on panel
Dimensions35 1/4 × 27 1/2 in. (89.5 × 69.9 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
On View
Not on viewDescriptionJael appears in the biblical Book of Judges. Deborah (with hands clasped in prayer) prophesied that the enemy would be defeated thanks to a woman, rather than by general Barak (in the background, looking diffident in spite of his helmet and armor). When the enemy’s commander Sisera was resting, Jael killed him instantly by driving a tent peg through his temple – the artist captures her grimace of fierce resolution, hammer still in hand. Jael was an ambiguous heroine, as she was often presented as a warning to men: with her exotic garments and low neckline, her attractiveness makes her dangerous.
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