Susanna belaagt door de ouderlingen 1742

Louis Fabritius Dubourg rendered this engraving, Susanna belaagt door de ouderlingen, depicting a vulnerable Susanna accosted by elders. Notice her pose: one arm extended, the other drawn back in self-defense, a gesture echoing the classical Venus Pudica, yet here, it speaks of terror rather than modesty. This motif of the violated woman transcends time. We see iterations in Lucretia's tragic tale, and even in modern cinema, the power dynamics of such scenes engage our deepest fears and moral judgments. The elders, cloaked and grasping, are symbols of hypocrisy. Their robes, meant to signify wisdom and authority, become instruments of oppression. The asymmetry in their stances—one reaching, the other recoiling—reveals the inner turmoil of their lust, a visual manifestation of psychological conflict. Susanna's desperate appeal resonates across centuries. It reflects a primal scream against injustice, a testament to the enduring human struggle against power and the cycle of victimhood.