Document 15-3: ARTEMISIa GENTILESCHI, Susannah and the Elders (1610)

A Female Renaissance Painter Examines Gender and Power

Renaissance and early modern artists drew heavily for their inspiration on Christianity and the classical past, but this does not mean that they were uninterested in the present. Susannah and the Elders by the female Roman painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–ca. 1656) is a case in point. Taken from the Book of Daniel, the story of Susannah centers on a false accusation of adultery. As Susannah, a young wife, bathes in her garden, two elders of her community watch secretly. Filled with lust, the two men threaten to denounce her as an adulterer if she refuses to have sex with them. When she resists their attempts at blackmail, they follow through on their threat. Only the intervention of Daniel, who exposes inconsistencies in their story, saves Susannah from execution. As you examine the painting, pay particular attention to the way Gentileschi composed it. How does the placement of the three figures help amplify its message?

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Private Collection/Bridgeman Images.

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. How would you describe Gentileschi’s Susannah? How does the position of her arms and head help convey her reaction to the unwanted advances of the elders?
  2. How would you characterize the two elders? How does their placement in the painting reflect their power? What might explain Gentileschi’s decision to depict them whispering to one another at the very moment they accost Susannah?
  3. What does the painting tell us about the connections that Gentileschi made between gender, power, and violence?