The story of Susanna and the two old men who watched her while taking her bath, her trial, based on the false accusations by the old men for adultery, because she had rejected their advances, and her acquittal with the help of the prophet Daniel, were all very popular depictions of the triumph of purity. Becoming a symbol of spousal fidelity from the 16th century on, this was yet another pretext for depicting the female body in a nude, yet decent pose. Susanna and the Elders, donated to the National Gallery by Georgios Averoff, is an example of this iconographic theme, credit for which is hesitantly attributed by Marilena Cassimatis and Angela Tamvaki to the Dutch artist Adriaan van der Werff (Kralingen, 1659 – Rotterdam, 1722).
Willem van Mieris (1662–1747), the son of the artist Frans van Mieris the Elder (1635–1682), followed Netherlandish painting traditions in pursuing everyday-life subjects, interiors, historical and mythological scenes. In “Young Woman with a Parrot”, donated by Aikaterini Rodokanaki in 1904, a delicate touch captures the figures and props (week of 20 August), while meticulously detailing the setting, accentuating interior features – for instance the carpets, reliefs, and still-life paintings – and textures.
“Outdoor Dance”, of 1738, by Franz-Christoph Janneck (Graz 1703 – Vienna 1761), the leading Austrian exponent of Rococo, is a characteristic Rococo painting in the style of Jean Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), reminiscent of the latter artist’s fetes galantes, in which carefree parties of young people are casually enjoying themselves, flirting in the countryside.
This artwork was acquired by the National Gallery in 1967 with funds from the Alexandros Soutsos Estate.
A party of aristocrats are attending an outdoor feast in the gardens of a country mansion, or palace. In the middle of the composition, a pair of human figures, apparently the hosts, open the dance (week of 9 July), while women and men around them, clad in elegant countryside attire, talk, flirt, promenade. The colours used by Janneck are made even more vibrant set against the copper substrate which he commonly used in his paintings, as is the case for the painting in the National Gallery collection.
“The feast of the Epiphany” in the National Gallery is part of the Technical University’s donation. This is probably a copy by Jordaens’s studio of the master’s work currently in the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (Kassel). Jordaens, a follower of Adam van Noort (1561/62–1641) got married to his master’s daughter, Catarina, who apparently became his favourite model. The artist received many commissions of his own, and worked closely with his father-in-law, as well as with Rubens (Peter Paul Rubens, 1577–1640). Similarly to his father-in-law, Jordaens maintained a large studio to handle the commissions he received; he amassed a great fortune and a notable personal art collection. He died during a cholera epidemic that swept Antwerp in 1678. A painter of historical, mythological, allegorical, religious, and genre scenes, a watercolourist, and a printmaker, he was one of the greatest 17th-century Flemish painters, alongside Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) and Rubens.
The subject of this painting is a Flemish folk custom of celebrating Epiphany: during a long, festive banquet, a cake is served, with a black bean hidden inside. Whoever finds the bean becomes king or queen of the day, wears a crown, and chooses who sits beside them. In the six versions of this painting produced by Jordaens, the king is depicted raising his glass to toast, while the merry company cries, ‘The King drinks!’ The oldest man is depicted as king. Notably, the artist’s relatives – including his wife, daughter, father-in-law, children, and friends – served as models for the folk figures.
The oldest version – which served as model for the painting in the National Gallery – is the one in the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel and was produced in four distinct phases. In the first one, circa 1635, the painting was limited to the group surrounding the flute player and the elderly woman on the right. The young singer to the left was added later, and eventually a full-length male figure was also introduced. Around 1636/37, the artist’s daughter, Elizabeth, served as model for the young woman in the center. In the 1650s, the last section was added, which transformed the painting into a drinking feast, with a comic effect.
The painting in the National Gallery replicates the scene up to the third phase, depicting a cheerful social gathering, a fact that leads us to believe that it must have been produced after 1637 and before the final version.
