Frank Brangwyn: Susanna and the Elders, c 1908

Frank Brangwyn: Susanna and the Elders, c 1908 - on Art WW I

Frank Brangwyn:
Susanna and the Elders, c 1908
Framed (ref: 2966)
Oil on canvas, 47 1/4 x 62 in. (120.1 × 157.5 cm.)

Tags: Frank Brangwyn oil illustration religion

Reference: Galloway 673
Provenance: Carpenter Collection, Iowa, USA; Des Moines Art Center; Salender-O’Reilly
Galleries; Liss Fine Art; private collection
Exh: Robert Vose, Boston, USA, 1925; Exhibition of Paintings Drawings & Etchings by Frank Brangwyn, 184 Queen’s Gate, London, 1924 (No 50)
Ill: La Flamma, Rome, June 1924

The oil is based on the Old Testament story where Susanna was surprised by two elders when bathing.She repelled their advances and they retaliated by denouncing her for adultery. Daniel, however, exposed their deceit and they were subsequently stoned to death. The subject was popular amongst 17th-century painters, in particular Rubens and Jordaens, whose work Brangwyn admired.

In 1907 Brangwyn painted a larger version measuring 149 × 162cm (587 × 63¾in) which is in the collection of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. In this work the position of the ﬁgures is reversed.