Susannah and the Elders before Daniel 1530 - 1540

Curator: Looking at Pomponio Amalteo's drawing, "Susannah and the Elders before Daniel," made sometime between 1530 and 1540, my first reaction is how unfinished it feels, yet brimming with narrative tension. It is held here at the Met in New York. Editor: Yes, that's it. It feels like a theatrical staging, almost aggressively process-oriented – a stage set bare bones, the pencil strokes visible like construction lines. This drawing exemplifies a certain economy of material! What was the common production method for such artworks, and for whom? Curator: Well, being a drawing, probably pencil on paper, it offers a raw intimacy into Amalteo's process, and as such can be seen to provide unique insight to the creative practices of Italian Renaissance artists. In it we observe the story of Susannah being accused and defended. Editor: Right. So much labor went into even the preparatory sketches! Look at the sheer number of figures, even in the preliminary forms they indicate significant artistic and workshop costs. One has to wonder about the market and commission conditions. Who would use these designs and in what process? What do these means say about art's role? Curator: It certainly puts the “narrative” into narrative-art, doesn't it? Thinking of Susanna, though, what strikes me is how she's depicted almost as an island of calm amidst all the accusations and judging eyes, like a gentle lily surrounded by thorny vines. There's an emotional core to the work that really gets to me, it evokes complex reflections about judgement. Editor: Absolutely. This connects directly to its making. The stark contrasts inherent to drawings emphasizes, through its very bareness, the stark nature of Susannah's story. One wonders about access. Curator: Considering what’s visible through Amalteo's intentional and expressive strokes makes me appreciate how emotional vulnerability and inner strength become visible. Editor: Indeed, each element here – every sketched line, even the apparent erasures – speak to material realities and to wider cultural narratives about the means and modes of artistic productions. Curator: Exactly, thinking about these narratives brings a profound and meaningful perspective. Editor: The modes themselves shape the meanings of making art during the period.