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