Susanna and the Elders

This image is the third ‘Susanna and the Elders’ picture dated 1963 in an exhibition at the Morley Gallery in London, in 1973. It is titled in pencil Susanna and the Elders III beneath the image, but is too faded to be legible, and marked with slight acid discolouration from a previous mount, so I have mounted out the writing.

It depicts a representation of the story of Susanna and the Elders. The story tells of the Beautiful Susanna, bathing in her private gardens and spied upon by two lustful elders. The Elders try to persuade Susanna to have sex with them, inventing a story about her meeting a lover to blackmail her. Susanna refuses and is put on trial of death. At the last moment, Daniel insists that the Elders are questioned, and their story about which tree the lovers met beneath do not match, showing it to be false. The elders are sentenced to death, and innocence triumphs!

This story is included as an additional tale in the Greek text additions of the Book of Daniel. It has been a popular subject for artists since the 1470’s.

Versions of the story have focussed on the beautiful Suzann, or the drama of the tale depending on the tastes of the time. In a version by Anthony van Dyke, c.1621-1622, the Elders are up close and personal. In Picassos’ version, from 1955 (now owned by the Museo Picasso Málaga) Suzanna reclines, and ‘the Elders’ are seen as pictures on the wall behind her.

In this tiny version, delicately etched in drypoint and coloured with aquatint, the fair Susanna is sunbathing in her bikini. The gull and the rubber ring look on, although there are also some tiny figures on the horizon.

I think it is great, delicate and witty. You have to get up really close to see the subject matter, so I have framed it in a grand gilt frame, which picks up the yellow of the sand. I think (hope) that this draws the viewer in for a closer inspection, and amuses them when they arrive.

Ellen Graubart, born in India of American parents, studied in Virginia and came to London from as a teenager in 1967 to study art. She lives and works as an artist in Hackney, London.