Bryn Mawr College Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College Dissertations and Theses 1995 The aD nger of Visual Seduction: Netherlandish Prints of Susanna and the Elders Susan Dackerman Bryn Mawr College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.brynmawr.edu/dissertations Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Custom Citation Dackerman, Susan. "The aD nger of Visual Seduction: Netherlandish Prints of Susanna and the Elders." PhD Diss., Bryn Mawr College, 1995. This paper is posted at Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. https://repository.brynmawr.edu/dissertations/184 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Danger of Visual Seduction: Netherlandish Prints of Susanna and the Elders by susan Dackerman September 1995 Submitted to the Faculty of Bryn Mawr College in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the rlegree of Doctor of Philosophy Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9622453 Copyright 1996 by Dacker.man, Susan All rights reserved. UMI Microfonn 9622453 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microfonn edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Roatl. Ann Arbor, Ml48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i VITA iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES vi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I 15 AN ICONOGRAPHIC SURVEY Seeing susanna Susanna Confronted by the Elders at her Bath The Garden Scenes of Justice Iconic Images within Series of Celebrated Women Susanna Presented in Half-Length CHAPTER II 64 THE DANGER OF VISUAL SEDUCTION The Hi storical Background and Texts Prints of Susanna and the Elders after 1563 CHAPTER III 104 AN APPEAL TO THE SENSES Pr int Series of the Five Senses CHAPTER IV 127 THE SENSES ENGAGED : THE ROLE OF THE BEHOLDER Visuality as a Theme within the Biblical Narrative Perception and Devotion : an historical perspective Sight and Touch in the Prints EPILOGUE 162 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CATALOGUE OF PRINTS OF SUSANNA AND THE ELDERS 167 Checklist Plates APPENDIX A: THE BIBLICAL TEXT 200 New Standard Revised Edition APPENDIX B: THE BIBLICAL TEXT 206 Latin Vulgate SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 208 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The Danger of Visual Seduction : Netherlandish Prints of Susanna and the Elders In 1563 , the Council of Trent issued a decree which stated , " •..all lasciviousness is to be avoided , so that images shall not be painted and adorned with seductive charm ." In the wake of this mandate , and other Netherland ish mandates intended to bolster the Council 's decrees , prints of the biblical heroine Susanna proliferated in the Low Countries . The majority of these engravings , etchings , and woodcuts portray the attempted seduction of a provocative female nude by two old men , a scene which explicitly manifests "lasciviousness" and "seductive charm. " This dissertation examines why these erotically charged prints of Susanna and the Elders flourished amidst the ubiquitous condemnation of provocative imagery . It is my contention that these prints were engaged in the Reformation/Counter-Reformation disputes over the depiction of "lascivious" subjects and demonstrated the power of such imagery to incite indecorous behaviors . Although they seem to contradict the Reformers' and Counter-Reformers ' interdictions , these prints actually advanced and visually articulated the religious and aesthetic mandates of the period . As such , Netherlandish prints of Susanna functioned as warnings against the dangerous effects of seeing seductive imagery . i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. As evidence for this assertion , I survey a selection of admonitory sixteenth-century texts which describe and denounce the alleged dangers of sight , and reveal the analogous function of prints of Susanna and the Elders . I also demonstrate the similarity of these prints to other contemporary images which warn of the dangerous consequences of visual gratification , such as allegorical representations of the Five Senses . Finally , I examine how prints of Susanna appeal to and engage their audience in order to offer their admonition . This dissertation also contains a catalogue of prints of Susanna produced in the Netherlands between 1 508 and 1650 . ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA I, Susan Dackerman , was born on January 10, 1964 in New York City . I graduated from the public schools in Va lley Stream , New York in June , 1982. I then attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie , New York and I received my A.B. in Art History in May 1986. In 1988 I began my graduate studies in the History of Art at Bryn Mawr College . My coursework included seminars and classes in the fields of Roman Architecture , Northern Renaissance Art , Italian Renaissance Art , Seventeenth­ Century Dutch Painting , Nineteenth-Century French Painting , and Art Historical Methods . I received my M.A. in the History of Art from Bryn Mawr College in May , 1991. My M.A. thesis was entitled "Sensuality as a Means to Instruct Morality : Netherlandish Prints of Susanna and the Elders ." The following year , I worked as a Teaching Assistant for the Department of the History of Art . In the Spring of 1992 I was admitted to candidacy for the Ph .D. after taking Preliminary Examinations in the following fields : Iconoclasm in Northern Europe , Italian Renaissance Prints , the Paintings of Gustave Courbet, and Art History and Feminist Theory . During the 1992-1993 academic year, I was the Lynn and Philip A. Straus Intern in the Print Department of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University where I organized the exhibition "Chaste , Chased and Chastened : Old Testament Women In Northern European Prints ." My dissertation research on Netherlandish prints of the bibl ical tale of Susanna and the Elders has been supervised by Professor Christiane Hertel . The title of my dissertation is "The Danger of Visual Seduction : Netherlandish Prints of Susanna and the Elders ." In 1993 I was awarded a Bryn Mawr College Travel Fellowship in order to examine primary source materials in the Netherlands . In addition , the Graduate School of Arts and Sc iences of Bryn Mawr College has provided me with sustained financial support throughout my course of study , including a Senior Fellowship in 1994-1995. During the past academic year , I was also employed as a research assistant in the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art . iii -· ·- --------------------------------� Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Numerous individuals and institutions have assisted me through the inception and completion of this thesis. I am particularly indebted to Professor Christiane Hertel . Not only has she directed this dissertation , but she has guided and nurtured my intellectual development during my years at Bryn Mawr . Moreover , her intelligence , generosity, and good humor have enriched my life. I would also like to acknowledge the intellectual challenge and inspiration given me by Professors David Cast , Dale Kinney , Steven Levine , and James Tanis . Mrs . Mary Campo , whose assistance over the years has been immeasurable, always deserves special thanks . I am also indebted to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for their generous support through the years . catherine Lafarge , Dean of the Graduate School during my tenure at Bryn Mawr , deserves a special note of thanks for her continued encouragement . A number of individuals significantly facilitated my research in the Netherlands . Ger Lui jten , Chief Curator of Prints in the Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam , provided invaluable assistance in gaining access to both the P�jksmuseum collection and the collections of other museums . Christiaan Schuckman , researcher for the new edition of Hollstein, shared information from the forthcoming volumes , and helped me locate elusive prints . Ilja Ve ldman , iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. professor at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam , generous ly shared her knowledge and appreciation of Netherlandish prints with me. In addition , I would like to thank Danielle Hanrahan for her help in the Netherlands . Numerous colleagues and friends have contributed in their own myriad ways to this pro ject . I would like to acknowledge the effort of those who have helped with the translation of the Latin texts , especially Robert East Mooney . At Bryn Mawr , my colleagues Pamela Baldwin and Phi llip Kent , amongst many others , have contributed not only to my intellectual life , but to my personal happiness . Sally Cavalier DelRey , Ne il Charney , Melissa Farrington , Daniel Lebson , Helen Schweitzer , and Nancy Whittaker have sustained me during this occasionally trying process . I would especially like to acknowledge the assistance of Elizabeth Mansfield who helped bring this pro ject to completion . During the