Jael and Sisera

A monumental figure of Jael dominates the composition, shown in profile with dramatic, wind-swept clothing and complex drapery. She holds the instruments of her victory—a heavy mallet and a long metal tent peg—while a smaller narrative scene in the background depicts her driving the peg into the temple of the sleeping Sisera. The work displays the characteristic elongated proportions and dynamic line-work of Late Northern Mannerism.

Hendrick Goltzius was the central figure of the Haarlem Mannerists, whose technical virtuosity and intellectual circle laid the groundwork for the Golden Age of Dutch symbolic and esoteric printmaking. This work belongs to a series on Famous Women, reflecting the 'Power of Women' (Weibermacht) trope popular in the moral and philosophical discourse of 16th-century humanist circles.