1504
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Portrait of a Monk is a 1504 unspecified by Gerard David, a Northern Renaissance work, depicting Brug, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows a monk in a simple brown robe. He kneels with a prayer book open in front of him. Soft light falls on his face and hands. It’s part of a two-panel work meant for private prayer. The other half is missing but probably showed Mary and Jesus. You can still feel the quiet focus of the monk. Look up Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523) to see more works like this.
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. 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, 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…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may…
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