Susanna and the Elders is a 1610 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi and is her earliest-known signed and dated work.

The painting is a representation of a biblical narrative featured in chapter 13 of the Book of Daniel according to the text as maintained by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, although not generally by Protestants.

[1] When Daniel, a wise young Hebrew man, questioned them separately, details in the two elders' stories did not match.

[3] The subject was relatively common in European art from the 16th century, with Susanna exemplifying the virtues of modesty and fidelity.

In practice however, it allowed artists the opportunity to display their skill in the depiction of the female nude, often for the pleasure of their male patrons.

[3] Gentileschi's Susanna sits uncomfortably,[3] a twist to her body showing her distress, unlike many depictions that fail to reveal any discomfort.

[1] Gentileschi's vertical composition also spreads the two elders at the top as a dark element hovering over the scene, creating a feeling of malevolent pressure imposed upon Susanna.

[6] As this version is the earliest, it has been presumed by Roberto Contini, Germaine Greer, Susanna Stolzenwald, and Mary D. Garrard that she painted with her father's guidance.

[7][5] Art historians Roberto Longhi and Andrea Emiliani questioned how Gentileschi could paint a convincing female nude at such a young age.

[3] Artemisia's naturalistic rendering of the female form stands in contrast to her father's style, however the adjustments revealed by x-rays may suggest that Orazio's guidance was focused on compositional arrangement rather than depiction.

[8] Rather, the body of works are attributed to Gentileschi,[8] partly because historians have been able to match her paintings‘ signatures on letters she wrote.

[5] This is because Garrard believes that the painting could be related to Gentileschi's resistance to the sexual harassment that she received from men in her community before she was raped by Agostino Tassi.

[5] On the other hand, Gianni Papi stated his opinion that the two elders were meant to represent her father and her second teacher, Tassi, because it is thought that his harassment of her was going on in the years prior to the rape and trial.