Not so Shy Susanna

Susanna by the Italian painter Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)

Suanna doesn’t look very surprised, quite the contrary she’s kind of presenting herself. She turns to the onlooker making clear that he’s the voyeur.

Romantic Bathsheba

Bathsheba at her bath (1834) by the Italian painter Francesco Hayez (1791-1882). The smooth light and gestures, the exotic costumes and the fairy tale trees all in all a typical romantic painting.
Funny King David wearing his crown in the background.

Seduced Lot

Lot and his daughters (1833) by the Italian painter Francesco Hayez (1791-1882).

Hayez did here a very traditional painting. In the back is Sodom burning and the statue of the mother could be seen. He focuses on Lot and his daughters who are all more or less naked. Lot looks very drunk, in front is a (wine-) jug and one of the daughters holds an empty cup. While Lot as the central figure seems nearly helpless, the two daughters are cool watching the effects of their intrigue.

Romantic Ruth

This example of Ruth is by Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) the leading artist of Italian Romanticism. Ruth is wearing the clothes of an Arab women, which means Orient, and she has a bunch of grain in her arm, which indicates that she is Ruth.

I don't understand why she must be naked. Because this isn't mentioned at all in the Bible. Probably its a concession to contemporary taste, which liked so much semi-nude oriental women.

Ruth (1835)