Oil on canvas. Italian school of the 17th century. It depicts a biblical episode from the Old Testament: Susanna, the beautiful and chaste bride of Ioachim, a wealthy Jew, is harassed by two elderly judges of the people while bathing in her garden. The subject has been widely taken up in art.
In this painting, the beautiful Israelite occupies the centre of the scene: placed outdoors by a fountain, on the left, adorned with a statue of a putto riding a large fish, in the Baroque style, the young woman expresses fright, in her gaze and in the gesture of her arm attempting to cover her nakedness.
On the right emerge the two old men, with their lascivious gaze: one of the two with one hand asks the woman to be quiet, with the other he hands her a rich diadem with which he tries to buy her.
The painting is lively in its figurative composition, with beautiful luministic effects in the colours of the complexion and clothing, and with attention to detail, particularly in the jewellery (the girl's diadem and hairpins). The two men have faces tending towards the grotesque, their expressions well marked by wrinkles, large noses and large eyes. Restored and retouched, the painting is presented in an early 20th century gilded frame.
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PLATINUM Seller in Milano, Italy
