Gerard David

Gerard David
The Virgin among the Virgins (1509) A self portrait of Gerard David in The Virgin among the Virgins. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen
Born	c. 1460 Oudewater
Died	13 August 1523 Bruges
Nationality	Netherlandish
Known for	Painting
Movement	Early Netherlandish painting

External video

David's The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor, Smarthistory ("David's The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. )

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 have been the "Meester gheraet van brugghe" who became a master of the Antwerp guild in 1515. He was very successful in his lifetime and probably ran two workshops, in Antwerp and Bruges. His reputation diminished in the 17th century until he was rediscovered in the 19th century.

He was born in Oudewater, now located in the province of Utrecht. His year of birth is approximated as c. 1460 on the basis that he looks to be around 50 years in the 1509 self-portrait found in his Virgin among the Virgins. He spent his mature career in Bruges, where he was a member of the painters' guild. Upon the death of Hans Memling in 1494, David became Bruges' leading painter. He moved to Bruges in 1483, presumably from Haarlem, where he had formed his early style under Albert van Oudewater, and joined the Guild of Saint Luke at Bruges in 1484. He became dean of the guild in 1501, and in 1496 married Cornelia Cnoop, daughter of the dean of the goldsmiths' guild. David was one of the town's leading citizens.

Ambrosius Benson served his apprenticeship with David, but they came into dispute around 1519 over a number of paintings and drawings Benson had collected from other artists. Because of a large debt owed to him by Benson, David had refused to return the material. Benson pursued the matter legally and won, leading to David serving time in prison.

He died on 13 August 1523 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady at Bruges.

David had been completely forgotten when in the early 1860s he was rescued from oblivion by William Henry James Weale, whose researches in the archives of Bruges brought to light the main facts of the painter's life and led to the reconstruction of David's artistic personality, beginning with the recognition of David's only documented work, the Virgin Among Virgins at Rouen.