{"id":660,"date":"2012-11-01T15:39:06","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T19:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/?p=660"},"modified":"2014-03-23T22:23:19","modified_gmt":"2014-03-24T02:23:19","slug":"one-creepy-onlooker-or-two-comparing-paintings-of-bathsheba-and-susannah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/2012\/11\/01\/one-creepy-onlooker-or-two-comparing-paintings-of-bathsheba-and-susannah\/","title":{"rendered":"One creepy onlooker, or two? Comparing paintings of Bathsheba & Susannah"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you see a painting of a woman bathing, chances are, the painting depicts either Bathsheba or Susannah – two biblical women with fascinating stories.\u00a0<\/strong>How to tell the difference? Count the men.<\/em><\/p>\n

As Bathsheba baths, King David looks on from a distance. As Susannah baths, two old men look on nearby.<\/p>\n

Although the stories of Bathsheba and Susannah have little to do with each other, paintings that depict these stories often look very similar. Artists have used both of these themes as an opportunity to depict the temptation of voyeurism. By positioning the women advantageously, the artist allows the viewer to play the part of the voyeur.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"bathsheba\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Sebastiano Ricci
\nBathsheba at her Bath<\/em>, 1720s
\nMuseum of Fine Arts, Budapest
\n> compare this<\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Story of Bathsheba<\/h1>\n

2 Samuel 11<\/a>
\nKing David looked out his window one day, and noticed a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop nearby. He summoned the woman, lay with her and she became pregnant. David summoned her husband Urriah, who was fighting in his army. He encouraged Urriah to go home and visit his beautiful wife, but Urriah had taken an oath, and insisted it wouldn’t be fair to his fellow soldiers if he slept in a warm bed while they slept on the ground. After his failed attempt to escape responsibility for Bathsheba’s pregnancy, he arranged for Urriah to be placed at the frontlines of the battle and then abandoned. After Urriah’s death, David took Bathsheba to be his own wife. God was displeased with David’s trickery, and their child did not survive. Bathsheba later became the mother of David’s son, Solomon, who grew up to become king.<\/p>\n

Although this story is meant to illuminate the character of King David, showing the catastropic outcomes of the his impulsiveness, artists often shift the focus of this scene to portray Bathsheba as a beautiful woman calling attention to herself by bathing lavishly.<\/p>\n

\"bathsheba\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari
\nBathsheba at Her Bath<\/em>, c. 1680
\nThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
\n> compare this<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

King David spies on Bathsheba’s bath from the balcony in the top right. Bathsheba’s vanity is emphasized by her glance in the mirror.<\/p>\n

\"bathsheba\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Artemisia Gentileschi
\nDavid and Bathsheba<\/em>, 1640s
\nColumbus Museum of Art, Columbus
\n> compare this <\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n

King David spies on Bathsheba’s bath from the balcony in the top left.<\/p>\n

\"bathsheba\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Luca Giordano
\nThe Toilet of Bathsheba<\/em>, after 1700
\nNational Gallery, London
\n> compare this<\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

King David spies on Bathsheba’s bath from the balcony in the top left. Bathsheba’s vanity is emphasized by the number of attendants to her bath, and her selection of jewels.<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\"susanna\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Pieter Lastman
\nSusannah and the Elders<\/em>, 1614
\nGem\u00e4ldegalerie, Berlin
\n> compare this<\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Story of Susannah and the Elders<\/h1>\n

Book of Daniel<\/a>
\nTwo elders of Babylon lusted after the beautiful Susannah, and conspired to spy on her while she bathed. One afternoon, after Susannah had sent her maidservants away, the two elders approached her, confessed their lust, and insisted that she lie with them. They threatened to accuse her of adultery with a young man if she refused. When Susannah adamently refused, the elders cried out their accusations, and Susannah was sentenced to death for the crime of adultery. A young man named Daniel insisted on further investigation, and upon interrogating the elders separately, found discrepancies in their stories. Susannah was vindicated, and Daniel earned great respect.<\/p>\n

Although this story is meant to illuminate the character of the young man who became the great Prophet Daniel, artists often shift the focus of this scene to emphasize the voyeuristic aspects of the story, and in some cases, to emphasize Susannah’s terror and struggle to maintain modesty.<\/p>\n

\"susanna\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Domenichino
\nSusannah and the Elders<\/em>, 1603
\nPalazzo Doria-Pamphilj, Rome
\n> compare this<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the examples below, the elders spy on Susannah’s bath and have clearly invaded her personal space. They are shown tugging at her clothes, and holding up a finger to indicate silence. Susannah is shown startled or distressed, and she struggles to keep herself covered.<\/p>\n

\"susanna\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Guido Reni
\nSusannah and the Elders<\/em>, 1620
\nNational Gallery, London
\n> compare this<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"susanna\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anthony Van Dyck
\nSusannah and the Elders<\/em>, 1621-22
\nAlte Pinakothek, Munich
\n> compare this<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you see a painting of a woman bathing, chances are, the painting depicts either Bathsheba or Susannah – two biblical women with fascinating stories. How to tell the difference? Count the men.<\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,29],"tags":[40,30,41],"class_list":["post-660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comparing-stories","category-davids-generation","tag-bathsheba","tag-david","tag-susannah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beckydimattia.com\/stories-in-art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}