Arti­cle Susanna and the Elders

Focus on the Peck Feature

The Old Tes­ta­ment apoc­ryphal story of Susan­na and the Elders has cap­ti­vat­ed artists for cen­turies. In it, a vir­tu­ous woman pre­vails and good tri­umphs over evil. This instal­la­tion from the Peck Col­lec­tion fea­tures Willem van Mieris’ beau­ti­ful­ly exe­cut­ed Susan­na and the Elders draw­ing along­side two con­trast­ing depic­tions of the theme, also from the per­ma­nent col­lec­tion. Rang­ing from the six­teenth to the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry, the Ital­ian, Dutch, and Aus­tri­an ver­sions dif­fer in media, tech­nique, and com­po­si­tion­al frame­work, as well as in the level of psy­cho­log­i­cal and phys­i­cal tur­moil depicted. 

The apoc­ryphal story of Susan­na and the Elders has cap­ti­vat­ed artists for cen­turies. A riv­et­ing tale about an hon­or­able woman’s inno­cence, it offered oppor­tu­ni­ties to depict nudi­ty and issues of moral­i­ty under dra­mat­ic and emo­tion­al cir­cum­stances. In the bib­li­cal book of Daniel, two respect­ed judges lust after Susan­na, the wife of a pros­per­ous Baby­lon­ian man. While bathing, the elders propo­si­tion her, but she refus­es. In anger, they accuse her of adul­tery and Susan­na is sen­tenced to death. Through divine inter­ven­tion, the truth of Susanna’s incor­rupt­ibil­i­ty emerges, and she lives on to become a sym­bol of female virtue and the tri­umph of good over evil. 

Willem van Mieris, Dutch, 1662 – 1747, Susan­na and the Elders, c. 1700, black chalk on vel­lum. The Peck Col­lec­tion, 2017.1.54

See van Mieris’ Susan­na and the Elders, c. 1700, in more detail here. 

Fea­tur­ing one draw­ing from the Peck Col­lec­tion at the Ack­land (above) and an engrav­ing and wood­cut also from the per­ma­nent col­lec­tion, this instal­la­tion demon­strates three dis­tinct inter­pre­ta­tions of the theme. Rang­ing from the six­teenth to twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry, they dif­fer in tech­nique, com­po­si­tion­al frame­work, and level of psy­cho­log­i­cal and phys­i­cal turmoil. 

Anni­bale Car­rac­ci, Ital­ian, 1560 – 1609, Susan­na and the Elders, c. 1590-95, engrav­ing and etch­ing. Ack­land Fund, 82.49.1

See Car­rac­ci’s Susan­na and the Elders, c. 1590-95, in more detail here. 

Ital­ian artist Anni­bale Carracci’s engrav­ing is refined in both appear­ance and sen­ti­ment (above). Stand­ing behind a gate, the elders con­verse with Susan­na, who appears some­what undis­turbed by their threats. In con­trast, Aus­tri­an artist Carry Hauser’s 1922 wood­cut is direct and expres­sive (below). The crowd­ed fig­ures, dis­tort­ed space, and sim­pli­fied forms empha­size Susanna’s entrap­ment as the elders con­verge upon her. The con­flict is height­ened in Dutch artist Willem van Mieris’ draw­ing, cre­at­ed around 1700 (top). By intro­duc­ing phys­i­cal con­tact with Susan­na, he embell­ish­es the nar­ra­tive for dra­mat­ic effect. Over­pow­ered and near­ly fully exposed, her dis­tress is promi­nent­ly on dis­play, made all the more pal­pa­ble by the imme­di­a­cy of the draw­ing medium. 

See Hauser’s Susan­na and the Elders (Susan­na Und Die Bei­den Alten), 1922, in more detail here. 

Carry Hauser, Aus­tri­an, 1895 – 1985, Susan­na and the Elders (Susan­na Und Die Bei­den Alten), 1922, wood­cut. Bur­ton Emmett Col­lec­tion, 58.1.543

25 Jan­u­ary 2019 — 21 April 2019