Susanna
(The Book of Susanna)
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La chaste Suzanne
by
Jean Jacque HENNER

(c 1865)
Susanna and the Elders
by
Jacopo TINTORETTO
(1560-62)
Susanna by
REMBRANDT
(1636 )
Suzanne et les Vieillards
by Felix VALLOTON
(1893)
Susanna and the two Elders
by
Alessandro VAROTARI
 (17th c )
Susanna
by
I. ISMAILOWITSCH

(1909)
The chastety of Susan
by
PAGANI
(n.k.)
Susana and the ancients
by
GUERCINO
(n.k.)
Susanne by
A. ROBERTY (1842)

The Bible has been an endless source of inspiration for western artists, painters and sculptors alike. Stories full of remarkable characters provided painters with subjects that inspired great works of art. One such story is that of Susanna.

The Book of Daniel in the Old Testament contained 12 chapters. In the first century before Christ a thirteenth chapter was added, the story of Susanna.

 
Susanna und die beiden Alten
by Michael L.L. WILLMANN ( - )

The Book of Susanna

Susanna was the pious and beautiful wife of Joakim, a wealthy Jew in Babylon, to whose house the Jewish elders and judges frequently came. Two aged judges became inflamed with love for her and tried to seduce her. When she refused, they accused her of committing adultery with a young man. Susanna was brought to trial. Since there were two witnesses who agreed in their testimony, she was convicted and sentenced to death by stoning. However in response to her prayers, God sent the young Daniel to her aid. The young man interrupted the proceedings and began to cross-examine the witnesses. He asked each one separately under which tree in the garden they had found Susanna with a lover. The first stated that Susanna had been surprised under a mastic tree, the other under a holm tree. Once the elders' evidence was shown to be contradictary and unreliable, Susanna was saved. The two false witnesses however were executed.

This story and others, according to art critic Edward Lucie-Smith, were abundantly exploited by Renaissance and later Baroque artists for their sexual contents. "The Old Testament contains a number of stories which hinge upon voyeurism...It is therefore not surprising to discover that these are subjects frequently chosen for illustration by Renaissance and later artists... The celebrated Susannah by Tintoretto in Vienna gives an idea of the reasons. The artist provided himself with the opportunity to paint a beautiful nude, who is made the more exciting by the fact that she is watched."

Although the story of Susanna has been treated in a number of ways, it is fair to say that, in their majority, painters have chosen to depict the bathing scene for the reasons explained above. Susanna is by herself bathing in her husband's garden when she is accosted by the Elders.

Some artists have chosen to show Susanna as unaware that she is observed during her toilet. See for example the works by Tintoretto, Henner, Pagani, Lapchenko, Guercino or Vallotton. Others have portrayed Susanna frightened and ashamed when she discovers the presence of the two Elders. This is particularly illustrated in paintings by Reni, Ismailowitsch, Varotori, Van Vriendt or Rembrandt. In the latter works, the Elders are shown crowding around the unfortunate Susanna [Rubens, Reni & Van Vriendt], sometimes threatening, even laying their hands on the object of their lust as is the case in the pantings of Alessandro Varotari and of Alessandro Allori.

 
Susanne
by MANNHEIMER ( - )


Other Renaissance and Baroque painters have contributed to illustrating the story of Susanna. Among them we find Valerio Valerio, Jacob Jordaens, Jacopo Bassano, Jacopo Chimenti, Artemisia Gentileschi, Lorenzo Lotto, Rembrandt van Rijn, Van Dyck, Franz Von Stuck, Paolo Veronese, Albrecht Altdorfer.

 

 
Suzanne au bain
by
Jacopo TINTORETTO

(1555-56)
Susanna im Bade by
HOLOUBEK
(n.k.)
La casta Susanna
by
Guido RENI
(c 1620)
Suzanna, Suzanna
by Martial RAYSSE
(1964 )
Susanna bathing
by
Frans VAN VRIENDT

(16th c)
Suzanna and the Elders by
Grigorii Ignatievich LAPCHENKO
(1842 )
Susana y los Viejos
by
Peter Paul RUBENS
(n.k.)
Susana in the bath
by
P.P. RUBENS
(1636-39)
Suzanne et les vieillards by
Alessandro ALLORI (n.k.)
 

The origin of the cards and the publishers :
La chaste Suzanne by Jean Jacques HENNER (c 1865) Musee du Louvre, Paris
        - n. 740 , Editions Nomis, Paris
Susanna im Bade by HOLOUBEK (not known) Salon International
        - D.K. & Co. P. n. 2158
Suzanna, Suzanna by Martial RAYSSE (1964) Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris
        - Edition Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris
Susanna by REMBRANDT (1636) Royal Cabinet of Paintings, The Hague
        - The Mauritshuis, The Hague
La casta Susanna by Guido RENI (c 1620) Firenze
        - n. 634 , Edit. Sborgi, Florence
Susanna im Bade by Jacopo TINTORETTO (1560-62) Wien Kunsthistorisches Museum
        - Ed. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien
Suzanne au bain by Jacopo TINTORETTO (1555-56) Le Louvre, Paris
        - n. IC 00 3888, Reunion des Musees Nationaux
Suzanne et les vieillards by Felix VALLOTTON (1893) Musee Maillol, Paris
        - Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris
Susanna im Bade by Frans F. VAN VRIENDT (16th c) Muzeul Brukenthal, Sibiu, Rumania
        - I. P. Sibiu
Susanna and the two elders by Alessandro VAROTARI (17th c) Muzeul National de Arta al Romaniei
        - Edit. de Athena G.P. Srl
Susanna and the Elders by Grigorii Ignatievich LAPCHENKO (1842) undetermined Russian museum
        - Printed for Pravda, Moscow

The chastety of Susan by PAGANI (n.k.) Galleria Uffizi, Firenze
        - 510, Innocenti - Editori in Firenze

Susan by L. ISMAILOWITSCH (1909)
        - 172, T.S.N.

Susana y los Viejos by Peter Paul RUBENS (17th c) Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid
        - Ed. Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid

Susanna in the bath by Peter Paul RUBENS (1636-39) Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munchen
        - VD 6051, Vontobel Feldmeilen, Switzerland

Susana y los Viejos by GUERCINO (17th c) Museo del Prado, Madrid
        - 215, Ediciones FISA, Barcelona
Suzanne by A. ROBERTY (1913) Salon 1913, Paris
        - 1866, A. Noyer, Paris
Susanna und die beiden Alten by Leopold WILLMANN (-) Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nurnberg
        - GM 1402
Suzanne et les vieillards by Alessandro ALLORI (-) Musee Magnin, Dijon
        - IC 00 4874, Reunion des Musees nationaux, Paris
Suzanne by MANNHEIMER (-)
        - 104, Magyar Rotophot Tarsaaag, Budapest VI

Bibliography :
Dictionary of Women in Religious Art by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona
   Copyright : 1998, Oxford University Press, England
Oxford Dictionary of the Bible by W.R.F. Browning
   Copyright : 1996, Oxford University Press, England
Sexuality in Western Art by Edward Lucie-Smith
   Copyright : 1972 & 1991,
Thames & Hudson, London
Encyclopedia Britannica

 

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