Susanna and the Elders

Susanna and the Elders was completed by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1647 and can now be found at the Gemaldegalerie in Berlin

The story Susanna is told in the Bible and this scene tells us of the moment that she enters her bath. Rembrandt would again use a large contrast between the lighter and darker elements of the painting, which is a signature style of his work as well as that of the Italian Renaissance artist, Caravaggio.

Rembrandt was happy with the technical level of this painting and would use it as a study piece for others in his studio. It would later fall into the possession of another famous artist, that of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was a famous British portrait painter and would likely studied the work of Rembrandt in great detail in order to learn from the Dutch master who himself was heavily involved in this particular genre.

There has been some scientific research into this painting that has confirmed the commonly held suspicion that Reynolds himself actually made some changes to the original work himself. By dating elements of the painting researchers were able to work out the extent of his involvement, as well as establishing that Rembrandt himself completed his own work in three stages.

The Gemaldegalerie in Berlin also features work by fellow artists Lucas Cranach, Caravaggio, Rogier van der Weyden, Albrecht Dürer, Jan van Eyck, Raphael, Hans Holbein, Titian, Giambattista Pittoni, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Vermeer making it well worth a visit if you find yourself in this exciting, creative German city.