The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Portrait of a Monk

Portrait of a Monk

early 1500s

circle of Gerard David

(Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523)
Flanders, Bruges
oil on wood
Framed: 54.5 x 48.5 x 5.5 cm (21 7/16 x 19 1/8 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 36 x 30.4 cm (14 3/16 x 11 15/16 in.)
Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.632
Location: 112 Northern Renaissance

Description

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 the Onze Lieve Vrouw (Our Dear Lady) Church; the Cathedral of the Saviour is on the right. Also, his simple gray garment and tonsure indicate that he likely belonged to an Augustinian religious community.
  • Rodolphe Kann, Paris, 1907; John L. Severance, Cleveland. John L. Severance Collection, 1936.
  • Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Reproduced: Vol. 2, p. [12], Pl. II, cat. no. 12; Mention: Vol. 2, p. 22, cat. no. 12 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 439 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 69 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 69 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 83 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 46; Mentioned: p. 47
    Johnston, William M. Encyclopedia of Monasticism. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000. Reproduced: p. 1042
  • Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
    Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of a Monk|url=false|author=Gerard David|year=early 1500s|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.632