Jael Portrayed in Art

My group is doing a project about how Jael is portrayed in art, and there seems to be a common theme among depictions of her, especially in these first four pictures. In all four, Jael has a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other, and Sisera is lying down as if asleep.



What struck me about this first one was how realistic it looks compared to the others. I am not completely sure if it is a photograph or a painting. I also noticed that this tent peg is longer than the one in the other paintings and that the clothing looks more like the time period in which this story took place, whereas the others were based on the time period in which the artist was painting.

       

This third depiction also looks photographed, like the first, but the color scheme gives it a dark undertone, highlighting the seriousness of the murder of Sisera.

In this fourth depiction I noticed that Jael is driving the peg through his left temple as opposed to his right, which is a difference from the others. I have no clue as to whether the temple side is significant or not, or if the artist had seen other depictions and just decided to be different.

In this last one, the artist chose to depict all three people involved in the story: Jael, Deborah, and Barak.  The artist appears to have established a level of importance. We can see most of Jael and she is in the very front with her hammer and tent peg, revealing that the artist considered her to be the most important figure of the story, whereas Deborah and Barak are somewhat hidden. The artist perhaps wanted to include the fact that they played a role, but not as major as that of Jael.  I am thinking that this picture would have taken place after the murder of Sisera, just by looking at Jael's expression. It looks to me to be a look of murderous rage. Deborah could be praying and thanking the Lord for allowing the Israelites to be free, and Barak looks as if he has just come home from war and is reliving what just happened in his head.

What surprises me is that there are not many varying depictions or Jael. I was not sure exactly what to expect, but it seems that nearly every artist depicts her with a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. Many depict her killing Sisera while he sleeps. Seeing as there are no other stories in the Bible about her, artists do not really have much to go on, so it makes sense that many depictions are extremely similar.