Susanna and the Elders

Albrecht Altdorfer painted this Susanna and the Elders around 1526, depicting the Old Testament story of the virtuous woman falsely accused of adultery by the lecherous elders she refused in her garden. The subject allowed Altdorfer to deploy his extraordinary skill in architectural fantasy—the elaborate Regensburg-inspired bathing palace and garden that dominates the composition—while treating the narrative of female virtue against male corruption. The story of Susanna was read typologically as a prefiguration of the Church's persecution and Christ's judgment, giving the secular narrative a theological dimension. As Regensburg's city architect as well as its leading painter, Altdorfer brought professional architectural knowledge to the fantastical garden palace he invented for the scene.

The panel shows Altdorfer's extraordinary integration of figure narrative with fantastic architecture and atmospheric landscape, creating a total visual environment unprecedented in German painting.