Old Masters - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2015 - 160 Euro Cent

Jacopo Robusto (1519-1594), called Tintoretto, was an Italian painter from Venice and is undoubtedly one of the most important representatives of so-called Mannerism. His pictures are of great movement, the perspectives are often unusual and the contrasts vary greatly. He was less concerned, as he emphasized, with the realistic reproduction than with the stage-like presentation of a scene. Tintoretto created a variety of works, which can be seen, inter alia, in large churches and palaces in Venice; For example, he equipped the "Scuola di San Rocco", an influential confraternity in the Republic of Venice, with more than 50 works of art. The biblical story of young Susanna taking a bath has always been very popular with artists because it provided a legitimate reason to portray female nudity. The painting shows the two old men on the sides of the rose wall who want to seduce the young woman. When she defends herself, she is accused of adultery, arrested and sentenced to death. The biblical prophet Daniel, however, manages to convict the two men of the lie and so to save Susanna. In Tintoretto's treatment of the theme, the light has a great importance, as it draws the view of the naked body of the woman through the strong light-dark contrast and thus makes the viewer of the image to the voyeur of the scene. Noticeable, of course, are the unnatural-looking proportions of the figures, as well as the ingenious animal and color symbolism, which emphasizes the moral innocence of Susanna. The large-format oil painting "Susanna in the Bath" dates from around 1555 and is part of the valuable collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.