Jahel from Heroes and Heroines of the Old Testament

A woman stands in a dramatic, twisting pose typical of the Mannerist style, holding a large wooden mallet in her right hand and a sharp peg in her left. In the background to the left, a small narrative scene inside a tent shows her driving the peg into the head of the sleeping general Sisera. The entire scene is enclosed in an oval border filled with Latin verse describing the battle and her deed.

This work is part of the 'Power of Women' topos, a popular theme in Renaissance and Mannerist art that illustrates the triumph of the seemingly weak over the strong through divine favor. As a product of the Haarlem Mannerist circle, it reflects the high technical and symbolic sophistication of the Dutch artists who influenced the intellectual courts of Europe, including that of Rudolf II.