Suzanna and the Elders 5 (2024) Drawing by Edwin Loftus
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This image is available for download with a licence
Sold by Edwin Loftus
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Original Artwork (One Of A Kind)
Drawing,
Pastel
on Cardboard
- Dimensions Height 11in, Width 14in
- Artwork's condition The artwork is in perfect condition
- Framing This artwork is not framed
- Categories Drawings under $5,000 Surrealism History
A group of town elders had joined the husband in the garden for a meeting. Afterward, two of them contrived to hide in the garden to wait for Suzanne to take her bath.
As they watched her they spotted a birth mark on a private part of her body and, being evil, they thought of a way to us this to blackmail her. Revealing themselves to Suzanna, they demanded that she have sex with them or they would accuse her of adultery and since she was just a young woman and they were respectable elders, they would be believed and she would be stoned to death.
Being virtuous, Suzanna refuses. And being evil, the elders carry out their threat.
Suzanna is tried before the court of Judges. The Elders reveal that Suzanna has a birth mark that is confirmed by her maidservant. They couldn't know of this had they not seen her naked and they are elders and she a mere woman so she's found guilty and sentenced to be stoned to death.
But then ... as they are leaving to go throw stones at Suzanna, one of the judges, Stephen, hears God whisper to him, "Suzanna is innocent and pure, she has no blemish."
Stephen calls a halt to the stoning and everyone marches back into the courtroom. There Stephen seizes Suzanna's gown and tears it from her body. And then he invites everyone to behold the naked Suzanna and proclaims that she is pure of spirit and of skin and all can clearly see ,,, that there is no longer any blemish on either her soul or her perfect skin.
Incensed that they had been tricked, the dastardly elders are dragged from the court and it is they that are forthwith stoned to death, for it is the Law of Hammurabi that the false accuser shall suffer the fate that would have been suffered by the one they accused ... which seems very fair.
This is a retelling of a story from the Book of Stephen, part of what is known as the "Apocrypha", unaccepted books of ancient Jewish and Christian lore. It has been a very popular theme in art and one I have addressed several times.
[The original is a little more vivid and bright than this photo reproduction]
Related themes
Edwin Loftus is an American painter and draftsman born in 1951. His interest in art began at the age of 4 when he decided to draw something real rather than working from his imagination.
As a child he excelled at drawing and as a teenager he began to experiment with oil painting. In college, he took courses in art and art history and realized that true art had nothing to do with the quality of the drawing or painting, but that it had to have the ambition to push the boundaries and expand the visual experience.
He also studied philosophy, psychology and history and quickly realized that it was just another art establishment trying to defend its elitist industry and reward system. Their skills were almost non-existent, they knew nothing about psychology, perception or stimulus response, and they were extensions of the belief system that made communism, fascism and other forms of totalitarianism such destructive forces in the world. They literally believe that art shouldn't be available to ordinary human beings, but only to an elite "sophisticated" enough to understand it.
Edwin Loftus realized that the emperors of art had no clothes, but they were still the emperors. Gifted in art, he worked hard to acquire this skill. So he found other ways to make a living and sold a few artworks from time to time. For sixty years, many people enjoyed his works and some collected them.
Today, Edwin Loftus is retired. Even if he sold all his paintings for the price he asked, "artist" would be the lowest paid job he ever had... but that's the way it is. It won't matter to him after he dies. He just hopes that some people will like what he does enough to enjoy it in the future.
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Nationality:
UNITED STATES
- Date of birth : 1951
- Artistic domains: Works by artists with a certified artist value,
- Groups: Certified Artists Contemporary American Artists
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