Gerard David / Portrait of a Monk / early 1500s

Gerard David
Portrait of a Monk
early 1500s
View Larger Image

View Full Catalog Record Below

This image is one of over 108,000 from the AMICA Library (formerly The Art Museum Image Consortium Library- The AMICO Library™), a growing online collection of high-quality, digital art images from over 20 museums around the world. www.davidrumsey.com/amica offers subscriptions to this collection, the finest art image database available on the internet. EVERY image has full curatorial text and can be studied in depth by zooming into the smallest details from within the Image Workspace.

Preview the AMICA Library™ Public Collection in Luna Browser Now

Cultures and time periods represented range from contemporary art, to ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works.
Types of works include paintings, drawings, watercolors, sculptures, costumes, jewelry, furniture, prints, photographs, textiles, decorative art, books and manuscripts.

Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com .

Creator Name: David, Gerard
Creator Qualifier: Circle of
Creator Nationality: European; Netherlandish
Creator Role: Artist
Creator Dates/Places: 1824 - 1911 - 1523
Gender: M
Creator Name-CRT: Gerard David
Title: Portrait of a Monk
Title Type: Primary
Title: A Monk at Prayer
Title Type: Former
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 1500
Creation End Date: 1523
Creation Date: early 1500s
Object Type: Paintings
Classification Term: Painting
Materials and Techniques: oil on panel
Dimensions: Unframed: 36cm x 30.4cm
AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 1942.632
Credit Line: Bequest of John L. Severance
Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html
Provenance: Rodolphe Kann, Paris (1907)
Context:

This panel originally formed the right half of a diptych, a hinged two-paneled painting used for private worship. The missing left panel probably depicted the Virgin and child. Thus the entire composition showed the monk, with his prayer book open, kneeling in an interior before Mary

and the infant Jesus. This panel is very similar to another painting of a monk now in the National Gallery (London) by Gerard David.

Although we do not know the monk's name, this painting tells us something about him. He must have lived in the Netherlandish city of Bruges, because behind him appear two of that city's most famous towers: on the left is that of the Onze Lieve Vrouw (Our Dear Lady) Church; at the right is that of the Cathedral of the Saviour. Also, his simple gray clothes and tonsure (partially shaved head) indicate that he belonged to a religious community, probably either the Augustinian or Cistercian monastic order.

AMICA ID: CMA_.1942.632
AMICA Library Year: 2002
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art

AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder.