Clip Art
Do you recognize this famous scene?
by Nicolas Poussin
by Peter Paul Rubens
by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri
by Jacques-Louis David
by Peter Paul Rubens
Answer: (5)
Painted by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), The Triumph of Judas Maccabeus was commissioned around 1635 by Maximilien Vilain, Bishop of Tournai in Belgium. Originally displayed in Tournai Cathedral, the artwork was financed by local residents. In 1794 the painting was stolen by French troops occupying the country. Subsequently Napoleon sent the painting to Nantes, where it currently resides in the Musée d’Arts de Nantes.
Judas (who earned the name “the Hammer”) was the central leader in the Maccabean revolt against Seleucid rule—and their Hellenistic influence. He proved to be an exceptional general, his tenure culminating with the liberation and cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple in 164 B.C.E. While he did not live to see political freedom for his people, his younger brothers continued the fight against the Seleucids and gained Judean independence in 160, shortly after Judas’s death that same year.
Judas led many battles and defeated four Seleucid armies in quick succession. Pictured here, Judas Maccabeus returns to the battlefield in triumphant glory—after defeating Gorgias, the governor of Idumea—to collect the slain Jewish soldiers and give them a proper burial. Upon arrival, however, Judas notices that each deceased solider wears an idol sacred to the town of Jamnia. Since wearing idols was forbidden by the law of Moses (Exodus 20:4-6), Judas assumes this was ultimately the reason why the men fell in battle. Judas then leads the survivors in prayer, asking that the deceased be absolved of their sins and collects a sin offering of 2,000 drachmas of silver to be sent to Jerusalem (2 Maccabees 12:38–45).