[1] It is only when a young Hebrew wise man named Daniel questioned them separately did he observe that details in the two elders' stories did not match up. Art historian Rave said that the last digit looks like a 6 or a 9 so the date could be 1616 or 1619. 1 There was a man living in Babylon whose name was Joakim. 3 Her parents also were righteous, and taught their daughter according to the law of Moses.
Early catacomb art focuses on the vindication of Susanna and sets her as an example of (Roman) piety and faith, comforting the deceased and their families that they, like Susanna, will be vindicated by God (see the third-century catacomb fresco and the similarly-themed ninth-century Lothair Crystal). Still others depict Susanna as the instigator of the event. In contrast, Susanna’s “portrait character” sees remarkable variation, depending on the moment selected for portrayal. [5][6] Art historians have different opinions about this version of Susanna and the Elders. Susannaâs Beauty Attracts Two Elders. Artemisia Gentileschi, for example, shows Susanna raising a frail hand in a futile gesture of restraint against her overpowering attackers. [2] Gentileschiâs Susanna sits uncomfortably,[2] a twist to her body showing her distress, unlike many depictions that fail to reveal any discomfort. One day two elders come to the town and they take charge as the judges. 7 When the people left at noon, Susanna used to enter her husbandâs garden for a walk. Rembrandt’s Susanna of 1634 is an awkward young virgin oblivious to the gaze of her stalkers but shamed by being caught naked by the painting’s viewers. It depicts the story of Susanna from the Book of Daniel. However, there is no evidence confirming either opinion. [2] Artemisia's naturalistic rendering of the female form stands in contrast to her father's style, however the adjustments revealed by x-rays may suggest that Orazio's guidance was focused on compositional arrangement rather than depiction. Daniel Saving Susanna, the Judgment of Daniel, and the Execution of the Elders Art Print. Susanna and the Elders has been a popular theme in art for centuries. She is the wife of the wealthy and respected Joakim, at whose Babylonian house elders gather daily to judge the people’s cases. âSusanna and the Eldersâ by Francesco Ciseri is a copy made from a painting by Guido Reni (1575 â 1642) in the Uffizi. [3], The questioning of the date of this painting started with the Joesph Heller's guidebook for the Pommersfelden collection in 1845. [7] The spelling and format of signature varied because at that time, spelling was not standardized. It is one of the additions to Daniel, considered apocryphal by Protestants. It is an oil on panel painting completed in the year 1647. [citation needed], Susanna and the Elders (Artemisia Gentileschi), "Life Without Instruction: Artemisia, and the Lesson of Perspective", Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Januarius in the Amphitheatre at Pozzuoli, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Susanna_and_the_Elders_(Artemisia_Gentileschi,_Pommersfelden)&oldid=1000478621, Paintings depicting Susanna and the Elders, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Wikipedia articles with Bildindex identifiers, Wikipedia articles with RKDID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 15 January 2021, at 08:00. The painting does not fade against their background, testifying that Artemisia Gentileschi was one of ⦠Literally, "second canon"; refers to texts accepted by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as sacred scripture, but not included in the Hebrew Bible. Jane S. Webster is professor of religious studies at Barton College in Wilson, N.C., author of Ingesting Jesus: Eating and Drinking in the Gospel of John, and coeditor of Teaching the Bible in the Liberal Arts Classroom and Lady Parts. ×× Ö¸Ö¼×â, Modern: Å oÅ¡ana, Tiberian: Å ôÅ¡annâ: "lily"), also called Susanna and the Elders, is a narrative included in the Book of Daniel (as chapter 13) by the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Susanna, a Hebrew wife, was falsely accused of participating in sexual acts with a man who was not her husband by two voyeuristic judges. Some capture Susanna still oblivious to her voyeurs. [4] This is because Garrard believes that the painting could be related to Gentileschi's resistance to the sexual harassment that she received from men in her community before she was raped by Agostino Tassi. Pablo Picasso arranges his oddly disjointed Susanna on a bed under the gaze of two intact men looking down at her from a painting on her wall. [2], Artist Kathleen Gilje created a work of art based on Gentileschi's painting in which she made one, more violent version of Gentileschi's painting in lead paint, then painted a copy of Gentileschi's original over top. [7] However, R. Ward Bissell questions if she was the one signing her paintings because of the spellings used in four of the letters in which "Gentileschi" is spelled with the letter "e" used in place of "i". Robusti, also known as Tintoretto or Il Furioso, for the energy and "fury" with which he painted, depicted both sacred and profane subjects in a period sometimes known as the Venetian âgolden centuryâ. II -- 1:5-27 â Susanna is Falsely Accused. Many artists show Susanna in physical contact with the elders, although the biblical account does not mention that. A common comparison is made with Annibale Carracciâs version of Susanna and the Elders. with one hand while she holds the other’s face in her lap. They are usually partially obscured behind foliage or a wall; their arms reach toward Susanna; their eyes caress her; they often have a lurid grin; their features and caps are often devilishly pointed; their clothes are dark and plain; and they are cast in shadow, darkness, and obscurity. The Elders Testify against Susanna 28 The next day, when the people gathered at the house of her husband Joakim, the two elders came, full of their wicked plot to have Susanna put to death. [2] This information was then later published by Mary D. Garrard in 1982 and most scholars have accepted this information as the correct date. Susanna and the Elders is a painting by the Venetian painter Tintoretto. Susanna and the Elders is housed in the Weißenstein Castle now, a magnificent Baroque palace, the pearl of Bavaria, in the same collection as Titian, Rubens, and Van Dyck. Open Access. [6][4] However, no other artist had explored the psychological dimension of this Biblical story before, suggesting that Gentileschi's father, a traditionally trained artist, would have had no hand in influencing the concept of the young artistâs painting. 2 He married the daughter of Hilkiah, named Susanna, a very beautiful woman and one who feared the Lord. 3 Her parents were righteous, and had trained their daughter according to the law of Moses. Devotion to a divinity and the expression of that devotion. [2], Gentileschiâs painting has been compared to that of other artists who utilized the same subject. Susanna and the Elders: painting by Scarsellino Ippolito Scarsella Philadelphia Museum of Art: Cat. Amy-Jill Levine asks questions about the woman caught in adultery. Browse by subject - click on a letter below. It depicts the story of Susanna, a Deuterocanonical text from the book of Daniel in the Bible. More from This Artist. Artemisia Gentileschi 1593 â 1656. Other artists take the story one step further: Susanna is aware of the elders’ menacing presence. Similar Designs. Similar Designs. As she bathes in her garden, two lustful elders secretly spy on the lovely Susanna. Susanna and the Elders is a painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt from the Baroque period. The institution of elders ; Perhaps the same year Joakim married Susanna, these two unnamed elders were appointed judges ; The job of judges was to honor God by serving the people ; Of these judges, the Lord said "Wickedness comes from Babylon" They began to use Joakim's garden as a courtroom When Susanna does refuse, they publicly charge her with adultery and condemn her to death. 13:1 There dwelt a man in Babylon, called Joacim: 2 And he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Chelcias, a very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord. Joseph-Marie the Younger Vien. It is not included in the Jewish Tanakh They are of similar size, and are painted in a horizontal format with dark backgrounds. Gilje titled this piece Susanna and the Elders Restored (x-ray, 1998). [5] As this version is the earliest, it has been assumed by Roberto Contini, Germaine Greer, Susanna Stolzenwald, and Mary D. Garrard that she painted with her father's guidance.
Of these, two “wicked” elders lust after Susanna and conspire to rape her. their embrace. The copying of Old Masters was popular, both as a teaching aid and to create copies of famous artworks for an eager market well into the 20th ⦠Artemisia painted Susanna and the Elders in 1610 when she was just 17. Susanna was a fair Hebrew wife who was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. At the last moment, Daniel intervenes to expose the lies, sentences the elders to death, and absolves Susanna. Susanna and the Elders was of particular interest to artists because it provided a good excuse to paint a nude woman. [2], Gentileschi painted this scene at least twice more during her lifetime. In early examples, the focus is on the vindication of Susanna and sets her as an example of Roman piety and faith, comforting the deceased families that they will be vindicated by god like Susa⦠As viewers, we do not come to her defense either but choose instead to gaze at her naked and vulnerable form, passing judgment, complicit in her demise. $17. True to the biblical account, these later artists rarely include anyone to defend Susanna’s honor and safety, neither her maids, nor her family, nor her husband. Two elderly men are shown spying on a young married woman named Susanna. [3] It was not until the mid-1630s that Gentileschi began using background or landscape. [2], The painting was in the collection of the artist Benedetto Luti by 1715, as he made mention of it in a letter that year to his patron Hofrat Bauer von Heffenstein, who was a councilor to Lothar Franz von Schönborn, archbishop of Mainz. It currently hangs in the Schloss Weißenstein collection, in Pommersfelden, Germany. Susanna and the Elders (also known as Susanna e i Vecchioni) is a 18th-century portrait painted in oil by Giambattista Pittoni, made around 1720, during the Rococo in Venice, Italy, exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Susanna was a kind woman who was married to one of the respected man in town. Of or relating to ancient lower Mesopotamia and its empire centered in Babylon. Susanna was a fictional heroine ⦠And the two elders saw her going in every day, and walking; so that their lust was inflamed toward ⦠Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. [8] Joseph Heller's 1845 guidebook to the Schönborn collection at Pommersfelden included the first published attribution to Artemisia. [7] Rather, the body of works are attributed to Gentileschi,[7] partly because historians have been able to match her paintingsâ signatures on letters she wrote. [8] By 1719, the painting was part of the Schönborn collection. This story was especially popular among European painters in the 16th and 17thcenturies as Rembrandt, Tintoretto, Guido Reni, Paolo Veronese, Ludovico Carracci, Rubens, Van Dyck and Artemisia Gentileschi to name just a few. ©Copyright 2019, Society of Biblical Literature
[2] This painting was x-rayed in 1970 by Susanna P. Sack and it was confirmed that the date on this painting says 1610. Susanna and the Elders is a story from the Book of Daniel in the Bible. [2] If she was being harassed by Tassi in years leading up to the trial, Gentileschi could have been portraying her feelings of the harassment in this painting. Jacob Jordaens’ Susanna smiles as the elders energetically attempt to climb into the picture and into Susanna’s private space(s). Based on a story from the Apocrypha in the Hebrew Bible, it is a story of good triumphing over evil. [1] Gentileschiâs vertical composition also spreads the two elders at the top as a dark element hovering over the scene, creating a feeling of malevolent pressure imposed upon Susanna. The work shows an uncomfortable Susanna with the two men lurking above her while she is in the bath. oil on canvas (170 × 121 cm) â 1610 Schloss Weissenstein, Pommersfelden Artemisia Gentileschi biography. Suzanna And The Elders, 1746 Oil On Canvas Art Print. Susanna and the Elders is a 1610 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi and is her earliest known signed and dated work. In most of these paintings, the characterization of the elders remains fairly static. [6][5] With Gentileschi's father being her first teacher, it was not surprising that Gentileschi painted in a similar style. 1:5-6. [cited 4 Apr 2021]. Through another optic, it is defined as concerning the sequestration of witnesses.4 The narrative offered by lawyers focuses on the trial scene, so ⦠She sends her two maids into the house to fetch oil and perfumes for her bath. Susanna and the Elders tell a story about lascivious old men viewing and even moving to rape a beautiful woman, vulnerable and naked at her bath. When they see Susanna bathing alone in a locked garden, they demand sex; if she denies them, they will report ⦠[1], Gentileschiâs signature is shown on the stone step on the lower left of the image. Where is Susanna’s community in all of this? It currently hangs in the Schloss Weißenstein collection, in Pommersfelden, Germany. Of these, two wicked elders lust after Susanna and conspire to rape her. In practice however, it allowed artists the opportunity to display their skill in the depiction of the female nude, often for the pleasure of their male patrons. This work is assumed to be Artemisia Gentileschi's first major painting. The people in Joakimâs household run into the garden via a side doorâthe door that Susannaâs maids used to exit, and which they had not lockedâand behold the spectacle. Daniel in the lion's den is a very popular biblical story because it is so visually rich, but it is also a poignant tale of faith and politics. 255 Philadelphia Museum of Art: Susannah and the Elders: painting by Previously attributed to Hendrick Goltzius Royal Collection: RCIN 406921 15th century Suzanne et les vieillards: Suzanne et les vieillards: Susanna im Bade: painting by Schick, Carl [2] The date of this painting is important because if it was done in 1616 or 1619 it would put it into the Florentine period, but since the painting was done in 1610 this painting was created in the Roman period. The judges had watched her bathe before making advances towards her, which she refused. An x-ray of Gilje's painting shows Gentileschi's version of Susanna overlaying a version that depicts the rage and pain of a rape victim. $18. Available for sale from Gallery Katarzyna Napiorkowska | Warsaw & Brussels, Erazm Kalwaryjski, Susanna and the Elders (1997), Pastel, 63.5 × 43.5 cm [2] Rather than depicting the typical body type of previous paintings of Susanna, Gentileschi chose a more Classical style for Susannaâs body, which elevates her nudity in a more heroic sense. It is listed in Article VI of the 39 Articles of the Church of England among the books which are read "for example of life and instruction of manners", but not for the formation of doctrine. | Donate, https://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/en/people/related-articles/art-of-susanna-and-the-elders, Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect, The Good, the Bold, and the Beautiful: The Story of Susanna and Its Renaissance Interpretations. This subject matter for this painting comes from the deuterocanonical Book of Susanna in the Additions to Da⦠Susanna and the Elders ArtistTintoretto Year MediumOil on canvas Dimensions146 cm × 194 cm LocationKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Susanna and the Elders depicts a scene from the biblical episode of Susanna⦠[3] As shown in this painting, the only background is a blue sky. [2] Susanna had gone out to the garden one day for a bath when her housekeeper let the two elders in. [1] It currently hangs in the Schloss WeiÃenstein collection, in Pommersfelden, Germany. Susanna cries out to God. In the second-century prayers of the Commendatio Animae, Susanna delivered from false accusation symbolizes the soul of the elect protected from various perils. (170 x 121 cm) Schloss Weißenstein, Pommersfelden, Germany Private collection of the Schönborn Family. 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