CIRCA 1880

The subject here is the heroine Suzanna, the Babylonian wife of an influencial Jew, whose story illustrates the power of virtue over evil. In the narrative, two elders plot to seduce the young woman who was accustomed to bathing in her garden. The elders hid until her attendants had departed and then sprung out on her with threats of slander. Susanna cried out and thwarted the attack. As promised, the wicked elders made true with their threats and Suzanna was hauled before the courts facing a charge of adultery, under penalty of death. In the end, young Daniel came forward to cross-examine the perpetrators and their lies were exposed.