Susanna at the bath
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Image: 8 1/16 × 6 5/8 in. (20.5 × 16.8 cm) Sheet (Trimmed): 9 7/8 × 7 7/8 in. (25.1 × 20 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
Accession Number
42.119.304(17)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving captures the biblical tale of Susanna and the Elders, a story from the Book of Daniel that has long inspired artists with its themes of virtue, voyeurism, and justice. Created around 1786 by engravers Antoine Borel and Jacques Bouillard after an earlier composition by the Italian painter Giuseppe Cesari (known as Cavaliere d’Arpino), the print shows Susanna bathing while two men observe her from the shadows. The delicate lines and tonal contrasts typical of engraving allow the scene’s intimate drama to unfold with clarity and emotional resonance. Cesari, active in late-sixteent...