Plaque with Jael Killing Sisera

Description The Old Testament Book of Judges recounts that Sisera, commander of the Canaanite army, fled when his army was routed during battle with the Israelites. The woman Jael lured Sisera into her tent by offering him shelter but then killed him by driving a tent peg into his temple while he slept. By killing Sisera, Jael rescued the Israelites from years of oppression by the Canaanite king Jabin. The plaque is from a series, including the companion plaque, Solomon Turning to Idolatry (Walters 44.197).

Exhibitions

• Women Who Ruled: Queens, Goddesses, Amazons 1500-1650. The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor; The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley. 2002.

Provenance Duke of Cambacérès Collection [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henri Daguerre, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1928