Jael Killing Sisera

Unknown artist

Jael offered the fleeing Captain Sisera shelter in her tent, and then drove a tent pin through his head while he slept. Already before Rembrandt’s time, this biblical story was depicted as a warning against ‘the wiles of women.’ Rembrandt was fascinated by what drives a woman to commit such a deed. He regularly portrayed narratives in which the conflict of seduction and betrayal of women is central.