She holds the curtain open and looks toward the arriving soldiers.
Bible in art · Judges
Jael and Sisera
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
Doré drew this scene for «La Sainte Bible», the large illustrated Bible published by Alfred Mame in Tours in 1866. A professional engraver, A. Ligny, cut the drawing into an end-grain wood block and signed it at the bottom right.
Inside a dark tent Jael lifts the heavy curtain and looks out calmly. At her feet Sisera lies face down in his scale armor, his round shield propped nearby. Through the opening, under a stormy evening sky, Barak’s soldiers come up with spears.
From the text
- Jael “took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera” (Judges 4:21)
- Barak arrives in pursuit, and she says, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” (Judges 4:22)
- “there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple” (Judges 4:22)
The artist’s own
- The peg and the wound are not shown — Sisera lies face down, turned away from us
- Sisera in scale armor with a round metal shield, like a knight
- The tent drawn as a tall hall of heavy hanging curtains
Details
Jael
Sisera
The commander lies face down on the floor in his armor.
Barak’s men
Soldiers with spears and shields come up to the tent at dusk.
The shield
Sisera’s round shield leans in the dark corner of the tent.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 52 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.