Jael and Sisera

This work shows us the “mannish Jael” (maschia Giaele) as Manzoni referred to her, just as she breaks Sisera’s skull with the tent nail, as we read in the Book of Judges. We know nothing of the provenance of this painting, nor are there any documents that tell us when it came to the Ambrosiana. The work has been attributed to Giuseppe Vermiglio; it contains some Caravaggesque elements and appears to have been inspired by the same subject painted by Artemisia Gentileschi and now in Budapest.