Susanna and the Elders (Lotto)
Encyclopedia
Susanna and the Elders is a painting by the Italian
Renaissance
painter Lorenzo Lotto
, dating from 1517. It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence
. The work has the signature LOTUS PICTOR 1517.
, executed perhaps for a private commissioner. It is likely that it formed a cover for a portrait.
The painting is known in catalogues only from the 20th century, when it was part of the Benson collection in London
, and was acquired in 1975 by Alessandro Contini Bonacossi for 750 million liras. It was later transferred from his collection to the Uffizi, which now exhibits the painting in the Lombard painters room.
from the Old Testament. She was the wife of one Joachim, and received the advances of his husband's friends while taking a bath. After her refusal, the "Elders" accused her of adultery, but the accusation was later proved to be false thanks to the intervention of Daniel.
Lotto portrayed her after getting naked for the bath (the clothes scattered around her), while the Elders burst into from the door of the bath's enclosure, followed by two serf called to support their accuse of adultery. The cartouches, showing the characters' dialogue, are an archaic element, perhaps required by the commissioner himself as a complement of the moral message.
The upper part of the picture is occupied by a view of the garden and a castle within an idyllic landscape. A preliminary scene of the episode is shown there, with the woman entering the garden while her two maidens return back.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
painter Lorenzo Lotto
Lorenzo Lotto
Lorenzo Lotto was a Northern Italian painter draughtsman and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school. He painted mainly altarpieces, religious subjects and portraits...
, dating from 1517. It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. The work has the signature LOTUS PICTOR 1517.
History
The work's date places it during Lotto's sojourn in BergamoBergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, executed perhaps for a private commissioner. It is likely that it formed a cover for a portrait.
The painting is known in catalogues only from the 20th century, when it was part of the Benson collection in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and was acquired in 1975 by Alessandro Contini Bonacossi for 750 million liras. It was later transferred from his collection to the Uffizi, which now exhibits the painting in the Lombard painters room.
Description
The painting depicts the story of SusannaSusanna (Book of Daniel)
Susanna or Shoshana included in the Book of Daniel by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. It is one of the additions to Daniel, considered apocryphal by Protestants. It is listed in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England among the books which are included...
from the Old Testament. She was the wife of one Joachim, and received the advances of his husband's friends while taking a bath. After her refusal, the "Elders" accused her of adultery, but the accusation was later proved to be false thanks to the intervention of Daniel.
Lotto portrayed her after getting naked for the bath (the clothes scattered around her), while the Elders burst into from the door of the bath's enclosure, followed by two serf called to support their accuse of adultery. The cartouches, showing the characters' dialogue, are an archaic element, perhaps required by the commissioner himself as a complement of the moral message.
The upper part of the picture is occupied by a view of the garden and a castle within an idyllic landscape. A preliminary scene of the episode is shown there, with the woman entering the garden while her two maidens return back.