Images(3)

Susannah and the Elders

Artist Sisto Badalocchio (Italian, 1585 - 1619)

Depicted Susannah (Ancient Babylon, died before 100 BC)

Dateca. 1602-1610

CultureItalian

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

ProvenanceBy 1657, Olimpia Aldobrandini Borghese Pamphilj (1622–1681), Rome; by inheritance in the Aldobrandini family. By 1798 or 1799, William Young Ottley (1771–1836), London; (offered Ottley sale, London, 24 January–25 April 1801, lot 26, unsold). (Offered Ottley sale, Christie’s, London, 16 May 1801, lot 30, bought in for £588.) (Sloane sale, Coxe, London, 2 June 1804, lot 68.) By 1809, John Humble, London. (Offered De Bligny, London, 15 March–20 September 1809, lot 59, unsold); (offered Humble sale, Christie’s, London, 11 April 1812, lot 50, sold or bought in for £140–14s). By 1846, William Buchanan (1777–1864), London; purchased in 1846 by Robert Stayner Holford (1808–1892), Westonbirt, Gloucestershire; by descent to Sir George Lindsay Holford (1860–1926), Westonbirt, Gloucestershire; (sold Holford sale, Christie’s, London, 15 July 1927, lot 40, for £141–15s, to Arthur U. Newton, New York). (By 1928, with Julius Böhler, Munich); purchased in 1928 by John Ringling (1866–1936), Sarasota, Florida; bequest in 1936 to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.

Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936

Object numberSN111

The story of Susannah and the Elders (part of the Additions to the Book of Daniel) recounts how the beautiful Susannah was attacked by two lustful elders, who threatened that they would denounce her publicly if she did not succumb to their advances. She refused, was sentenced to death for adultery, and only saved when Daniel exposed the elders’ treachery. The subject was popularized in the 17th century by the painter Annibale Carracci and his school of followers, one of whom was Sisto Badalocchio, who painted this work.

On View

On view

Location