Bathing Women in 16th Century Venice
Diana, the famed mythological goddess of hunting was bathing in her grotto with her nymphs when a young hunter, Actaeon, "stumbled" upon her. Diana was so enraged that she sprinkled water into Actaeon turning him into a stag. His hunting dogs then turned against him and ripped him by limb.
Susanna is from the biblical story in Daniel. Susanna was the virtuous wife of a man who received many elders. One day, two of those elders decided to take advantage of their position and spied on Susanna as she was preparing to take a bath. They told her to sleep with them, and when Susanna refused, they informed her that they would tell the courts they saw her with a younger man. The courts condemned Susanna to be stoned for adultery, but luckily Daniel showed up to right the elder's lies.
In another biblical story, Bathsheba is taking a bath, when King David sees her from his window. He sends his servants to fetch her so she can sleep with him. As he is the king, Bathsheba is unable to say no. David wanted to continue to see Bathsheba, so he had her husband killed. David is punished for his actions by God when his son that Bathsheba bore him is killed.
Read below for the 5 images of these women made by Venetian painters