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Lot Essay
The story of Susanna and the Elders - a tale of virtue's triumph over villainy - comes from the Old Testament Apocrypha. Set in Babylon during the Exile, the story tells of beautiful Susanna, the wife of a prosperous Jew who was secretly desired by two elders of the community and how they plotted to seduce her. Known to go into her garden to bathe, the elders hid themselves there. The moment her maids had withdrawn, leaving Susanna alone, the old men sprang from their hiding place and grabbed the naked, unsuspecting girl. They threatened that unless she submit to them both, they would swear publicly that they had caught her in an act of adultery with a young man, a crime punishable by death. But Susanna (whose name means 'lily' in Hebrew, a symbol of purity) rejected them and cried out for help. Thwarted, the old men carried out their threat, and Susanna was brought before a judge on the false charge, found guilty, and condemned to death. At this crucial moment, the young Daniel came forward, separated the elders and cross-examined them, eliciting conflicting evidence, thus proving the innocence of the faithful woman and saving her.
Von Stuck depicts the moment when the rapacious old men emerge over the banister above the pool where Susanna bathes. It was the favoured moment in the story for painters since the Renaissance, as it provided a opportunity to depict full female nudity at its most sensual, in the guise of the most moral and unimpeachable example of Biblical virtue. Von Stuck has looked to earlier depictions of the subject by Veronese, Tinteretto and, notably, Rubens, but he created a distinctly sensual composition of his own.
The relationship between men and women was a central theme in von Stuck's oeuvre, which he approached with a more humourous and less misogynistic eye than contemporaries such as Moreau or, in particular, Khnopff. His pictures often comment inevitably on the powerlessness of man when faced with the enchantment of an alluring, sometimes demonic, woman, but for von Stuck - who enjoyed a happy family life - the relationship between men and women was a subject of modern, rather than purely philosophical relevance.
In the present work, Stuck employs many of the techniques which had afforded him such prominence in the artistic circles of his day. Under the much favoured guise of mythology, the artist illustrates his own fascination with the intricacies of human sexuality. Susanna and the Elders was executed in 1913 when Stuck was at the height of his artistic career. In 1909 he had received much praise for his work in Venice, where he received the Italian orders of Mauritius and St. Lazarus. On the eve of his fiftieth birthday in 1913 he was given the title of Geheimrat (Privy Councillor) and became an honorary member of the University of Munich. That same year, Fritz von Ostini's monograph on the artist was published.
Von Stuck depicts the moment when the rapacious old men emerge over the banister above the pool where Susanna bathes. It was the favoured moment in the story for painters since the Renaissance, as it provided a opportunity to depict full female nudity at its most sensual, in the guise of the most moral and unimpeachable example of Biblical virtue. Von Stuck has looked to earlier depictions of the subject by Veronese, Tinteretto and, notably, Rubens, but he created a distinctly sensual composition of his own.
The relationship between men and women was a central theme in von Stuck's oeuvre, which he approached with a more humourous and less misogynistic eye than contemporaries such as Moreau or, in particular, Khnopff. His pictures often comment inevitably on the powerlessness of man when faced with the enchantment of an alluring, sometimes demonic, woman, but for von Stuck - who enjoyed a happy family life - the relationship between men and women was a subject of modern, rather than purely philosophical relevance.
In the present work, Stuck employs many of the techniques which had afforded him such prominence in the artistic circles of his day. Under the much favoured guise of mythology, the artist illustrates his own fascination with the intricacies of human sexuality. Susanna and the Elders was executed in 1913 when Stuck was at the height of his artistic career. In 1909 he had received much praise for his work in Venice, where he received the Italian orders of Mauritius and St. Lazarus. On the eve of his fiftieth birthday in 1913 he was given the title of Geheimrat (Privy Councillor) and became an honorary member of the University of Munich. That same year, Fritz von Ostini's monograph on the artist was published.