Susanna and the Elders

Susanna is an unexpected figure in a room of saints. She comes from the Book of Daniel, an Old Testament heroine among Christian martyrs, and the museum notes how rarely she appears. The story is set in Babylon. Two elders, respected men of the community, spy on Susanna as she bathes in her garden and threaten to accuse her of adultery if she will not give in to them. She refuses, is condemned on their word, and is saved when the young Daniel questions the two men separately and their accounts do not match.

Pinturicchio paints the moment the elders take hold of her. Around them is the garden itself, with a tall fountain at its centre and the ground full of flowers and animals painted in minute detail. The museum regards this room as Pinturicchio's masterpiece in the apartment, with most of its scenes by his own hand.