Susanna en de ouderlingen

Susanna sits startled at the edge of a stone basin, attempting to cover herself as two men lean in from the surrounding foliage to pressure her. The scene is set in a lush garden featuring a classical fountain topped with a putto statue and a small glass vessel resting on a stone ledge. The figures are rendered with the muscularity and dynamic poses characteristic of late sixteenth-century Northern Mannerism.

This print represents the early career of Aegidius Sadeler, who would later become the preeminent Imperial Engraver for Rudolf II in Prague, a major center for Western esotericism. The story of Susanna was a popular vehicle in Mannerist art for exploring themes of voyeurism, the vulnerability of innocence, and the eventual triumph of Divine Truth over earthly corruption.