Carracci, Annibale (1560-1609)
Susanna e i vecchioni (Susanna and the Elders)
1604
Oil on panel, 56.8 x 86.1 cm
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Roma
This is the “Casta Susanna with the two old men” on a panel by Annibale Carracci described by Bellori (1672). Painted in Rome in 1604 by the Bolognese painter for Cardinal Facchinetti, the work soon ended up in Bologna, and then returned with the marriage between Violante Facchinetti and Giovan Battista Pamphilj in 1671. Due to its edifying character and the happy ending that characterizes it. The episode of the chaste Susanna became a recurring iconographic theme in the 17th century and the high quality of Carracci‘s painting, executed on a smooth surface, and the refined iconography influenced his contemporaries, who replicated the scheme. (GP)