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The Prophetess Deborah Ordering Barak to Take Arms against Sisera

1728–33
Not on view
Solimena, the leading painter of his generation from Naples, became famous throughout Europe for his versatility as a painter of religious and mythological compositions on a monumental scale and for his portraits. In this free, rapidly drawn sketch, he represented the prophetess Deborah, seated under a palm tree, ordering Barak to take arms against Sisera (Judges 4: 5–7). The drawing is a study for Solimena’s Deborah and Barak, painted in Naples around 1728-33, and now in the Harrach’sche collection of Schloss Rohrau, Vienna.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Prophetess Deborah Ordering Barak to Take Arms against Sisera
  • Artist: Francesco Solimena (Italian, Canale di Serino 1657–1747 Barra)
  • Date: 1728–33
  • Medium: Brush and black ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk (recto); small black chalk sketch of a nude male figure (verso)
  • Dimensions: 14-15/16 x 11-15/16 in. (37.9 x 30.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1963
  • Object Number: 63.98.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Birth of the Virgin, Francesco Solimena Italian, Oil on canvas
The Birth of the Virgin
Francesco Solimena
ca. 1690
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
Design for a Painted Ceiling: Perspective Architectural with a Figure at the Center, Anonymous, Italian, Piedmontese, 18th century Italian, Pen and brown ink and red chalk (recto); pricked for transfer in right part of sheet and at all corners; pen and brown ink sketches (verso)
Design for a Painted Ceiling: Perspective Architectural with a Figure at the Center
Anonymous, Italian, Piedmontese, 18th century
1700–1780
Study for the Fall of Simon Maqus, S. Paolo Maggiare, Naples, Francesco Solimena Italian, Pen and brown ink, gray, green, and rose washes over graphite
Study for the Fall of Simon Maqus, S. Paolo Maggiare, Naples
Francesco Solimena
1690
Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian
Armor
Italian
ca. 1400–1450 and later

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