School of Rubens: Susanna harassed by the Elders, oil on canvas, 18th/19th C.

Work: 47,5 x 61 cm

Frame: 64,5 x 78,5 cm

Based on the prime version in the Alte Pinakothek, Münich, inv./cat. no. 317 (link).

Depicted is the well-known Old Testament story of Susanna, the beautiful and pious wife of Joachim, a wealthy Jew in Babylonian exile. While bathing in her garden, she was spied on by two elderly men, who made in vain indecent proposals to her, whereupon, in revenge, they accused the chaste woman of adultery with a young man, completely unjustly (Daniel 13: 1-24).

This subject was one of the most popular themes of biblical iconography and was depicted countless times in early modern period painting. As an example of female chastity, the theme was of course an 'exemplum virtutis', but this biblical bathing scene was also a pretext for depicting sensual female nudes. The destination of this type of painting was mainly the relative seclusion of the bourgeois or aristocratic interior.

Condition: (UV-checked)

- The work in good and hangable condition.

- Relined.

- Faint network of craquelures.

- The UV-light shows foremost the typical colour of the varnish, with some touch-ups here and there.