スザンナと長老たち

Artemisia Gentileschi had painted Susanna surprised at her bath as a teenager, back in 1610, in one of the boldest debuts in Italian art. She returned to the same subject at the very end of her life. This large canvas, signed and dated 1652, is her last known dated work, made in Naples when she was nearing 60 and running a busy workshop. A faint signature was found low on the balustrade, and records of the sale mention a payment to her pupil Onofrio Palumbo, who helped finish it. For centuries the picture hung under another name, credited to the Bolognese painter Elisabetta Sirani, until study and cleaning gave it back to Artemisia. The subject is the biblical Susanna, cornered by two elders who threaten to lie about her unless she yields to them.