Susanna

The story of the beautiful and chaste Susanna is recounted in Daniel 13. Two elders of Babylon lusted for Susanna, the wife of the priest Joachim. They spied upon her as she bathed, then threatened to falsely accuse her of adultery with another man unless she submitted to their advances. Although the subject can be interpreted as a parable of justice—Susanna is ultimately vindicated—artists of the period clearly favored the image of the nude Susanna at the bath for its sensual appeal.

The painting may have originally been part of a decorative ensemble of six biblical scenes that hung above a series of doors. The nude figure is stylistically comparable to those in other paintings that can be identified as Tintoretto studio products of the 1570s and 1580s. These nude figures can be distinguished from those by Jacopo Tintoretto (Venetian, 1518 or 1519 - 1594) himself, which show a more convincing sense of the figures’ underlying anatomy, as well as more varied and dynamic compositions. Here, _Susanna_ is a much simpler conception, focusing on the nude figure, with only the barest allusion to narrative elements in the two sketchy figures of the elders in the background.

The identification of different hands in the Tintoretto shop remains a challenge. Here, however, the maid’s facial type is one that appears regularly in paintings that can be associated with Domenico, Tintoretto’s son. The picture can thus provisionally be assigned to Domenico, working in his father’s studio.