Susannah and the Elders

In July 1573 Veronese was called before the Venetian Inquisition to explain the dogs, drunkards and idlers he had crowded into a painting of the Last Supper. He answered that painters take the same liberties as poets, and simply renamed the picture. Within a few years his busy workshop was turning out versions of this scene, and you can see why the subject was welcome. The Book of Daniel tells how two respected elders spy on the young wife Susanna as she bathes, then threaten to accuse her of adultery unless she yields. A sacred story gave a painter every reason to show a nude in a garden. This canvas is one of several the workshop made of the composition. Here the two men no longer just watch, one has laid a hand on her.