Susanna and the Elders

Our gaze moves over the still water, whose deep shadows lighten a little as they stretch into the background.

Over the tops of the trees looms a palace with a mighty rotunda: We are in ancient Babylon.

Shadowy animals stand out against the dark wall surrounding the water in the middle ground.

According to the biblical story (Daniel 13), two elderly judges saw the beautiful, pious Susanna bathing on the banks of the river outside the city of Babylon “so that their lust was inflamed toward her ”.

They lay in wait for Susanna as she bathed in the garden and revealed themselves once the young woman believed herself to be alone.

“Behold, the garden doors are shut, that no man can see us, and we are in love with thee; therefore consent unto us, and lie with us.” (Daniel 13:20)

Susanna refused to let the old judges touch her, and in revenge, they falsely accused her of infidelity. Susanna was sentenced to death, but when the time came for her execution, the young judge Daniel recognized her innocence and had the old judges executed instead.

Susanna looks at the viewer fearfully, but also a little invitingly. With the concentration of colours and light on her exposed body, she forms the shining centre of the picture – and a tempting treat for the eyes.

As she bends away from her attackers, Susanna turns her gaze toward the viewer. Her posture betrays fear, but also a determination to defend herself. The judges reach for her, pulling at her garments.

Water before her, the wicked elders behind her: Susanna’s situation seems helpless.

The theme of Susanna at her bath was one of the most popular subjects in the Baroque era due to its eroticism and its moral and theological message that piety and chastity triumph over vice.

The allure of the forbidden and the erotic charge of the theme made it appealing to both painters and patrons alike.