Gerard David (Netherlandish, ca. 1455–1523)
Silverpoint on prepared paper (recto); black chalk (verso)
5 1/4 x 3 3/4 in. (13.3 x 9.5 cm)
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2008 (2008.368a,b)
This sheet is one of only nine or ten drawings known by Gerard David—the last great early Netherlandish painter, and an artist represented in the Museum's collection by more paintings than in any other collection in the world. Most of David's drawing are done in metalpoint on prepared paper, and some of them are inscribed with numbers in a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century handwriting (as is this sheet), probably recording their original order in the sketchbook they must have belonged to. Unlike earlier northern artists, David used the silver stylus in this drawing in a loose manner, and the liveliness and freshness of observation strongly suggests the drawing was made directly from life. None of the heads could be recognized in any of David's paintings, but certainly it was this kind of sketch which allowed him to imbue his figures with striking realism and profound humanity. Of the recently discovered sketches in black chalk on the back of the sheet, the figure at right is preparatory to one of David's major paintings, The Flaying of the Corrupt Judge (Groeningemuseum, Bruges), a work completed in 1498.
Related
Index Terms
Artist
Material and Technique
- Drawing, Chalk
- Drawing, Metalpoint
- Preparatory Study
- Preparatory Study, Drawing
- Preparatory Study, Drawing, Europe
