HopeCore Hammer Pullover Hoodie

Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, took in the fleeing Canaanite general Sisera after his defeat by the Israelite army. Sisera asked for water, but she gave him milk and covered him with a blanket. As he fell asleep from exhaustion, she took a hammer and tent peg and drove it through his temple, killing him instantly. In Artemisia Gentileschi's 1620 painting "Jael and Sisera," we witness not the fatal blow, but the tense moment before—Jael poised with hammer raised high, her face showing unwavering determination as Sisera sleeps, unaware of his fate.

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593, the eldest child of the painter Orazio Gentileschi. She trained in her father's workshop and was producing professional work by age 15. At 17, she was raped by Agostino Tassi, an artist working with her father. During the trial that followed, Artemisia was tortured under cross-examination to verify her testimony. Tassi was found guilty but his sentence was not enforced.

After the trial, Artemisia moved to Florence where she established herself as an independent artist. In 1616, she became the first woman to join the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence—a remarkable achievement when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training. She is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, working in the Baroque style and specializing in paintings featuring women from myths, allegories, and the Bible.

In this painting, Jael's sleeves are rolled up to reveal strong arms as she raises the hammer high to bring it down with maximum force. Her golden gown contrasts with Sisera's red and blue garments, signaling her virtue and imminent victory. Artemisia carved her signature into the painting as if in stone, placed within the arc of the hammer's swing alongside Jael, a visual connection between artist and heroine, two women who were ready and able agents of their own destinies.

This collection features Artemisia Gentileschi's "Jael and Sisera" (1620) on tees, hoodies, and tote bags—a reminder that women have always been methodical, strategic, and determined.