Gerard David

Netherlandish, c. 1460 - 1523

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Early Netherlandish painter, (c. 1460–1523)

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Against a deep, hilly landscape, a young woman sits facing us on a rocky ledge with a small child in her lap in this square painting. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, both have pale skin and blond hair. Mary wears a cobalt-blue gown over a coral-pink undergarment that peeks out from under the bottom hem and at her cuffs. A paler blue mantle is draped over the back of her head and falls to cover her shoulders and body. A sheer white veil covers her hair and forehead. Jesus wears a sheer white, loose, long-sleeved tunic. Both gaze downward to the bunch of green grapes Mary holds delicately in her left hand, to our right. Jesus reaches forward with both hands to pluck some fruit as Mary supports his body with her other hand. An oval shaped, woven basket with a lid sits on the ground next to Mary’s feet. The gray, rocky outcropping on which they sit is blanketed with straw-colored moss or other growth. A small clearing behind the pair is framed by trees on either side. The trees have tall, slender trunks speckled with light gray patches and canopies of olive and celery-green leaves. To our left and beyond the outcropping, a gray donkey stands behind a tree, nibbling on some grasses at the edge of the outcropping. To our right, in the middle distance, a pale-skinned, bearded man stands and arches back with a long stick raised overhead, as if about to strike the tree in front of him. Beyond him and about two-thirds of the way up the panel, a row of dark green shrubbery separates the clearing from rolling blue hills in the distance.
Gerard David, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, c. 1510, oil on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.43

The Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Gerard David · c. 1510 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.43

A pale-skinned man wearing a gray monk’s robe stands holding a wooden cross in one hand and a book and a baby in the other in this tall, narrow, vertical painting. The man is under a rounded arch in front of a deep landscape. His body faces us but he looks down and to our left with brown eyes under curved brows. He is clean-shaven, and his dark hair is cut into a ring around his head. The dark gray robe falls to his bare feet and is tied with a rope around his middle. The book he holds in his left hand, to our right, is open, the gold edges of the pages shiny against the vivid red binding. A small nude baby sits upright on the open book, hands together in prayer. The child has blond hair and thin limbs. The man stands on a pink and blue tiled floor near a gray step. Just beyond the dark gray stone arch is a cluster of royal blue iris. A grassy lawn extends to a body of water, a white tower tucked among trees, and distant blue hills under a pale blue sky.
Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century, The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anthony of Padua [right panel], c. 1500/1520, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.17.c

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anthony of Padua [right panel]

Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century · c. 1500/1520 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.17.c

An older, pale-skinned man wearing a richly brocaded robe and bishop’s mitre stands under a rounded arch in front of a deep landscape in this tall, narrow, vertical painting. The man faces our right and has a deeply lined face with light brown eyes under thick brows, a long nose, and a pale, closed mouth. His dimpled chin and jowly neck are tinged with a five-o-clock shadow. The pointed gold mitre on his head is encrusted with pearls and ruby-red, olive-green, and dark gray gems. He wears a long white garment under a scarlet-red and shimmering gold brocaded robe. Bands down the shoulders and front of the robe show angels, an eagle, and a collection of objects. He wears marine-blue gloves and gold rings on both hands. One hand is held in front of his chest, the first two fingers extended. He holds a crozier, a staff with a gold, spiraling top, in the other hand. He stands on a pink and blue tiled floor near a gray step. The arched opening behind him gives way to a landscape with trees, gray stone towers, and distant blue hills under a pale blue sky.
Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century, The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Nicholas [left panel], c. 1500/1520, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.17.a

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Nicholas [left panel]

Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century · c. 1500/1520 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.17.a

Two women and a baby, all with pale skin, sit together on a gray, stone throne with patterned fabric hanging behind them and a patterned rug below in this narrow, vertical painting. The woman sitting on the throne, Saint Anne, is the largest. A second woman, Mary, is smaller in scale, and she sits on Saint Anne’s lap. Mary, in turn, holds a nude baby boy on her lap. Both women have light brown eyes under faint, arched brows, smooth skin, long straight noses, and their shell-pink lips are closed. Saint Anne sits with her body facing us and she looks down with her head slightly tilted to our left. Her white head covering drapes over her shoulders and hangs down from her chin to cover her neck. She wears a marine-blue dress cinched at her waist with a black and gold belt, and a crimson-red robe that falls to and puddles around her feet. Her right arm, on our left, wraps around and holds Mary’s hip, and she supports a book with gold-edged pages with her other hand. Mary sits on Saint Anne’s right thigh, to our left, and leans toward the baby, who sits on her left knee, to our right. Her long, wavy, brown hair falls over her shoulders, and she wears a cobalt-blue robe over a lilac-purple dress. The baby has short, curly blond hair and reaches to turn the pages of the book. He has rounded cheeks and a pudgy torso. The stone throne is ornamented on the arms and at the top corners with ivory-white, nude children that are presumably also carved out of stone. The cloth hanging behind Saint Anne is decorated with glimmering gold, ornamental leaf designs against a pine-green background. The rug beneath her feet is a geometric pattern of red, tan, black, and white.
Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century, The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child [middle panel], c. 1500/1520, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.17.b

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child [middle panel]

Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century · c. 1500/1520 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.17.b

Bibliography

1863

  • Weale, W. H. James. "Gerard David." Le Beffroi 1 (1863): 223-234, 2 (1864-1865): 288-297, 3 (1866-1870): 334-346.

1905

  • Bodenhausen, Eberhard Freiherr von. Gerard David und seine Schule. Munich, 1905.

1907

  • Winkler, Friedrich. "David, Gerard." In Thieme-Becker 1913, 8:452-455.

1963

  • Folie, Jacqueline. "Les oeuvres authentifiées des primitifs flamands," Bulletin de l'Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique 6 (1963): 230-232.

1967

  • Friedländer 1928, vol. 3 (vol. 6, part 2, 1971).

1986

  • Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1986: 63.