# Jael and Sisera [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VIGNALI, Jacopo]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 124 x 102 cm ## Commentary Sisera was a cruel Canaanite leader who ruled the Israelites for twenty years. Barak defeated his nine hundred charioteers by a surprise Israelite attack. Sisera escaped and sought refuge in the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. She gave the terrified Canaanite sanctuary. When he fell asleep, she drove a tent peg into his brain. The act fulfilled the prediction of Debora, prophetess and Israelite leader, who foresaw that a woman would slay Sisera. This work is typical of Vignali's compositional style. Its composition is a derivation of a drawing by Cigoli in the Uffizi, Florence. ## Related artworks - [Portrait of Alessandro Strozzi, Called Beato Alessio]() - [The Archangel Michael]() - [View of the Room of the Angels]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()