Job's Wife

Illustration from the Psychomachia by Prudentius, circa. 950 C.E. MS 24199, fol. 11v, British Library, London, England.

The Psychomachia (Battle of Souls) is an allegorical poem by the Christian Latin poet Prudentius (348 – ca. 413 C.E.). Written in the early fifth century C.E., the Psychomachia describes the struggle between virtue and vice – where Christian faith is attacked but triumphs over pagan practices. Shown here is an illustration for the poem from the 10th century C.E. Job’s agitated wife is seen in the upper register ridiculing her husband. In the lower section, three female figures represent the personification of Patience, as Job’s wife looks on. The biblical story of Job is used here as an example of how patience defeats vice – in this instance, a wife’s anger towards her husband.