id: 122334 accession number: 1942.632 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.632 updated: 2023-03-20 14:14:06.161000 Portrait of a Monk, early 1500s. Circle of Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523). 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.632 title: Portrait of a Monk title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: early 1500s creation date earliest: 1500 creation date latest: 1523 current location: 112 Northern Renaissance creditline: Bequest of John L. Severance copyright: --- culture: Flanders, Bruges, early 16th Century technique: oil on wood department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Medieval Art type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523) - artist Born in Oudewater (near Gouda), David probably trained in Haarlem. Admitted (as a foreigner) to the painters' guild in 1484, he was active there until his death in 1523. He was also inscribed in the painters' guild in Antwerp, 1515. --- measurements: 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.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection opening date: 1942-11-12T04:00:00 Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943). title: Art and Humanism in the Renaissance opening date: 1962-01-23T05:00:00 Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Rodolphe Kann, Paris, 1907; John L. Severance, Cleveland. John L. Severance Collection, 1936. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. page number: Reproduced: Vol. 2, p. [12], Pl. II, cat. no. 12; Mention: Vol. 2, p. 22, cat. no. 12 url: https://archive.org/details/SeveranceBequest/page/n26 The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 439 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n80 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 69 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n93 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 69 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n93 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 83 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n103 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. page number: Reproduced: p. 46; Mentioned: p. 47 url: Johnston, William M. Encyclopedia of Monasticism. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000. page number: Reproduced: p. 1042 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.632/1942.632_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.632/1942.632_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.632/1942.632_full.tif