Attributed to Pauwels Casteels

Attributed to PAUWELS CASTEELS (Antwerp, c. 1625–1677).
“Susanna and the Elders.”
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 40.5 x 54.4 cm; 57.4 x 71.8 cm (frame).
This depiction of Susanna and the Elders is part of the tradition of 17th-century Flemish cabinet painting and can be linked, based on its medium, format, and compositional style, to the work of Pauwels Casteels. The episode, taken from the Book of Daniel, depicts Susanna while she is bathing, startled and threatened by two elderly men who, after being rejected, attempt to falsely accuse her of adultery. The subject was particularly popular during the Baroque period because it allowed for the combination of the biblical narrative with the study of the female figure, the landscape, and intense narrative tension.
One of the main arguments for attributing the work to Casteels is the choice of copper, a medium the artist used extensively in his compositions on biblical and mythological subjects. Among the works related to this subject matter, *The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite* stands out; it is also executed on copper and is very similar in size to the present painting. Its format and conception correspond to the type of cabinet painting that Casteels developed for a specialized market and collectors. The same trend is evident in various biblical compositions attributed to the painter, such as *David Playing the Harp Before Saul* and *The Triumph of David*, also executed on copper. Added to these is *The Marriage of David and Abigail*, a work associated with the artist and characterized by its narrative composition, the presence of numerous figures, and the attention paid to clothing and accessory details. These examples allow us to place *Susanna and the Elders* within a facet closely related to Casteels’s oeuvre;
Although Casteels was particularly renowned as a battle painter, his body of work also encompassed historical, biblical, and mythological subjects, as well as landscapes. In his narrative scenes, the influence of Flemish specialists such as Pieter Snayers and Pieter Meulener is evident, while his mythological and biblical compositions on copper constitute a less common and particularly interesting aspect of his body of work.
Pauwels Casteels, the son of a painter, joined the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1649/50, becoming a full-fledged member of the leading Flemish artistic center of his time. His work circulated widely through Antwerp art dealers, including Guilliam Forchondt, whose activities helped export Flemish painting to Central Europe, Spain, and Portugal.