During the 1940s, Daphne Mayo produced a series of allegorical works depicting serenely classical women, inspired by the work of the French sculptors Aristide Maillol (1861−1944) and Charles Despiau (1874−1946), which she had admired on her recent overseas visit. These calm and strong figures possibly reflect Mayo’s own feelings about the role of women in contemporary society; independent and courageous, she herself was the epitome of the modern, liberated woman.

The theme of Susannah, a Jewish heroine whose story is recounted in the Apocrypha, recurs in Mayo’s paintings and sculptures of this time. In exploring this theme, she chose to depict Susannah not as a seductress, as many artists had done, but rather as a model of virtue, resolute and defiant, as she discovers she is being watched while taking her daily bath.