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.

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.

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.