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artthatgivesmefeelings · 1 year ago

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Francesco Hayez (Italian, 1791-1882) Susanna at her Bath, Detail, 1850 National Gallery, London

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sumire-no-nikki · 1 month ago

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Francesco Hayez, Susanna at her Bath (1850) at The National Gallery.

The subject matter of this painting is a fairly common one. In fact, just in the same museum, there are at least two other paintings featuring the same bible story. Susanna, a virtuous woman, is preyed upon by two elder men. Motivated by lust, and enabled by corruption, the men threaten to falsely accuse Susanna of adultery knowing their word would easily invalidate hers. They thought they would be able to blackmail her into sleeping with them.

Hayez’s rendition stands out as a captivating and innovative interpretation of this subject matter staple. In most depictions such as that of L. Caracci, A. Gentileschi, and Rubens to name a few, Susanna is in distress, looking over her shoulder, trying to ward off the men encroaching on her. Her face is a blend of anguish, embarrassment, and repulsion even in the few iterations where Susanna is featured without the elders. But Hayez’s Susanna is devoid of such turbulent emotions. This Susanna has her eyes fixed on the viewer. One could even look at it with a modern perspective and see it as defiant. She is clearly nude yet unlike the other interpretations of this painting, the viewer can only see her back. Her pose deprives the viewer of the opportunity to appropriate her body further. She is off to the side rather than enshrined at the middle of the painting, as if to say she had not volunteered to be seen and used.

All these visual elements are held together by the decision to exclude the voyeur elders from the painting to deliver a lasting impact. The viewer, equipped with the context of the story, knows that this is Susanna from the Old Testament. And if there she is, the protagonist—where are the antagonists? Perhaps in this way, the painting could serve as a challenge, a point of reflection. How are you being like the elders when you look at art, at others, at the world? In what ways have you taken something from another with your gaze?

#hayez #francesco hayez #art history #art #sumire-no-nikki

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artsof · 10 months ago

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Susanna at her Bath | Francesco Hayez | 1850 | London National Gallery

"Hayez was the leading artist of mid-19th-century Milan, renowned for his elegant draughtsmanship and polished execution. The Old Testament story of Susanna bathing provided him with a pretext for painting one of his favourite subjects, the female nude"

A description from an exhibition at Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne (December 2022):

"Alone with Susanna

A Susanna almost without the Elders. The painter only vaguely indicates the two old men in the background between the trees - obscured by light from behind and the haze of dawn. Looking over her shoulder Susanna identifies the real intruder in the intimate bathing scene: the viewer! The voyeuristic perspective puts him in the position of the Elders - pleasurably enjoying the scene or embarrassed? Casually supporting herself on one arm, with her crossed leg elegantly pointing in our direction, Susanna appears self-confident rather than alarmed. The same applies to her slight upward gaze that fascinates us - almost hypnotically. Is she giving us the "cold shoulder" as a calculated form of provocation? "

#Susanna at her Bath #francesco hayez #London #london national gallery #susanna #old testament #milan #academism #romantism

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amore0429 · 2 years ago

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