2-999-960 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Story of Susanna: The Elders as Judges, c1488-90. This panel is from a series illustrating critical events in the life of the biblical figure Susanna. As told in the Old Testament Book of Daniel, Susanna was a young Babylonian woman who was accosted by two lecherous old judges while bathing in her private garden. After rejecting their advances, the judges accused Susanna of adultery and she was sentenced to death. But through the just intervention of a young nobleman named Daniel, Susanna was proven innocent and her virtue preserved. This panel represents the beginning of the story and shows the two elders seated as judges.