Arcadópolis
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Susanna and the Elders
Artemisia Gentileschi, 1610
What you see
Susanna sits on a stone bench with a white cloth over her legs, twisting her body away. She raises her hands to shield herself, and her face shows distress. Above, two men lean over the wall: a younger, dark-haired one bends toward the other, older and in a red cloak, who lifts a finger to his lips. The wall cleanly separates the woman from the men.
The scene takes place outdoors, under a blue sky with clouds. Susanna’s pale skin contrasts with the gray stone and the red of the older man’s cloak. Look at the leafy reliefs carved into the wall, her long hair falling down her back and the straight stone ledge that splits the picture into two zones.
About Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi learned to paint in Rome, in the studio of her father Orazio, a follower of Caravaggio, from whom she took the strong contrasts of light and shadow. In 1616 she became the first woman admitted to the Academy of the Arts of Drawing in Florence, and later worked in Venice, London and Naples for nobles and kings. She painted above all heroines from the Bible and history with uncommon force and resolve; after centuries of neglect, she is today one of the most admired painters of the Baroque.
More by Artemisia Gentileschi
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