Devotion, Exports, and Civic Duty: Gerard David’s Functional Landscapes
Written by Emily Vescio
Edited by Inez Olszewski
In her 2018 essay, The Dirty Work of Fifteenth-Century Landscape Painting in Northern Europe, Sally Whitman Coleman asserts Gerard David’s landscapes as non-functional in comparison to those of other Flemish Primitives, such as Jan Van Eyck or Hans Memling. Coleman’s conception of the “functional landscape” situates the landscape as a structural agent of “present aristocratic constructs of social order.”1 While Gerard David’s landscapes do not overtly illustrate political or aristocratic constructs, they serve a variety of devotional and civic purposes. David’s emotional lens asserts his landscapes as an asset to the desires of the devotio moderna, a spiritual movement focused on private piety which necessitated the production of small, intimate objects of devotion. Conversely, his landscapes also function within public devotional pieces as an aid to monumentalize biblical subjects. His keen ability to take cues from visual language outside of Flanders bolstered his success both within Bruges and among exports. A critical examination of three of Gerard David’s known lamentation scenes, painted in approximately 1490, 1505, and 1515, respectively, contextualize his landscapes as facilitators to devotion on the public and clerical scale and as aids to the more intimate desires of the devotio moderna. The functionality of David’s landscapes is demonstrated across his compositions, his treatment of the suffering of Christ, signifiers of devout sympathy of players within the scene, and attention to evolving cultural tastes and encounters.
Gerard David was one of the final Masters of the Flemish school, arriving in the booming port city of Bruges around 1484 from Oudewater, in the Northern Netherlands.2 Though little is confirmed about his practice, it is believed that his primary clientele were religious and civic establishments, and, occasionally, Spanish and Italian patrons.3 The objective of a clerical audience cements the function of David’s landscapes as amplifiers to devotion. This purpose is further evidenced by a later objective for a lay elite audience. The extent to which David’s pieces garnered favor internationally cements their contribution to the burgeoning economy in Bruges. Artwork in fifteenth and sixteenth century Flanders was largely motivated by piety, with private, meditative devotion coming to fruition around the fifteenth century.4 This is due to the rise of the devotio moderna as a prevailing religious influence. The devotio moderna dictated piety as a daily and private practice. The expansion of the devotio moderna amongst clergy and laity thus created a market for domestic objects of devotion.
Each lamentation scene produced in Gerard David’s workshop between 1490 and 1515 effectively utilizes the expanding visual rhetoric of the Flemish school. In each lamentation scene, three key players appear: Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, and Saint John the Evangelist. Though their situation within the composition varies, these players consistently toil over Christ’s body, producing a poignant devotional image. While the players’ affects contribute to each painting’s moving quality, the landscape functions as a key element. Each scene’s landscape serves a unique purpose, whether it be as an aid to private devotion as iterated by the devotio moderna, heightened public devotion, or as an arbiter of expanding cultural tastes. David’s landscapes contribute to the aforementioned objectives by complicating the polemic of viewership, presenting a site that, in its familiar and sublime nature, heightens the sensory activity of viewing art.
Figure 1. Gerard David, The Lamentation, 1500, Oil on panel, 55.1 × 62.8 cm, Art Institute of Chicago.
The Lamentation is a profoundly intimate scene, meaning that artworks depicting it were often considered objects of private devotion in the Northern Renaissance, evoking the contemplative nature of the devotio moderna. This raises a point of contention, as David’s first known lamentation scene (fig. 1), painted in approximately 1500, was confirmed by the Art Institute of Chicago to be a portion of a larger public altarpiece dedicated to Saint Anne, commissioned for export to Spain.5 Though its function as a public altarpiece contrasts with the tradition of private devotion, this piece makes an apt example of Gerard David’s monumentalization of the devotional subject as an aid to heightened public worship and situates his landscapes as a facilitator to admiration. Additionally, the function of the altarpiece as an item of export illustrates David’s landscapes as a proprietor of visual rhetoric which would have been desirable for a foreign audience. His notable success with patrons outside of Flanders thus cements the notion of civic importance within David’s works.
The Lamentation (1490) demonstrates Gerard David’s talent for poignant devotional pieces. David monumentalizes the subjects through scale, allotting them space within the outermost boundaries of the frame. Christ, at the center, lays horizontally, figuratively expanding across the composition. The landscape in this work is unique to David’s oeuvre, demonstrating a careful attention to architectural subjects. Sprawling plains draw the eye to a tower which resembles approximations of Roman architecture, potentially an early signifier of a fascination with Italian visual elements, which would become characteristic of David’s later works. The use of complex architectural elements is not only a clear demonstration of technical skill, but a visual aid to profound devotion. Situated in a complex, aesthetically pleasing, and architecturally significant setting, the sacred status of the players is amplified. These formal elements serve to expand the experience of viewership, elevating it from passive looking to active appreciation and subsequent divine contemplation. The dramatic nature of this piece, amplified by the landscape, is likely in accordance with the specific tastes of Spanish patrons.6 Thus, the landscape is central to visual language employed to garner appeal with patrons outside of Flanders.
Figure 2. Gerard David, The Lamentation, 1505, Oil on wood, Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal.
The second lamentation scene being considered, painted in approximately 1505 (fig. 2), contrasts with the aforementioned work, as its scale and situation of emotion in relation to corporeal suffering indicate a private mode of devotion. This is more aligned with the intimate context of a domestic object. The function and scale of this piece indicate that it would have been created for a clerical or merchant class recipient for private display, thus situating the landscape as an asset to devotional practice. In this case, he utilizes familiar and sublime settings to affect a heightened sense of meditative piety. Rather than focusing on the entirety of Christ’s wounds, David tightens the frame, allowing the viewer to read the tender facial expressions of the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John the Evangelist. The expressions of Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary are flat, if uncanny, characteristic of David’s modest emotional lens.7 However, there is an undeniable air of tenderness, as a single tear rolls down Mary’s cheek, and the Virgin cradles Christ’s head in a final act of maternal longing. David’s depiction evokes a subdued iteration of the copacíon, or compassion of the Virgin (fig. 3), a visual convention in which the Virgin’s expressions and gestures indicate that she is experiencing Christ’s somatic suffering with him.8 In this iteration of The Lamentation, David’s characteristically minimal emotional lens portrays the Virgin experiencing the tranquility of death alongside Christ, as her dissociative expression resembles the deceased Christ’s. Saint John the Evangelist raises his hand to his eye in an unusual gesture. Though the iconography of this gesture is unknown, it is most likely an indication of sorrow for Christ’s death, approximating a motion of wiping away tears.
Figure 3. Detail: Rogier Van der Weyden, Descent From the Cross, 1435, Oil on panel, 204.5 x 261.5 cm, Museo Del Prado, Madrid.
Figure 4. Hans Memling, Diptych for Maarten Nieuwenhove, 1487, Oil on oak panel, 52 x 41.5 cm (each), Memlingmuseum, Bruges.
In this piece, David forgoes focus on architectural elements, opting for a markedly natural scene. Sparse cliffs and rolling hills draw the eye to the background, which is rife with fauna that would have been familiar to a viewer living in Bruges. Though the setting is canonically identified as the hills of Golgotha, the expansive natural landscape would have been identifiable to a variety of viewers, largely due to the visual rhetoric of Naturalism within the Flemish school. The familiar landscape is a key element of Gerard David’s contribution to domestic devotion, offering a common site which the viewer would share with sacred players. Pieces such as Hans Memling’s 1487 Diptych for Maarten Nieuwenhove (fig. 4) indicate a desire for devotional objects and paintings which create a site of worship in which the viewer experiences holy events alongside biblical characters. In the case of the Nieuwenhove diptych, the donor is placed within an imagined architectural space with the Virgin Mary. The landscape acts as a continual visual element which creates consistency between the locations of the donor and Virgin Mary.10 In the case of Gerard David’s Lamentation, the lack of a specific donor represented in the painting necessitates a common space which could be conceptualized by a variety of viewers. Thus, David utilizes a familiar and aesthetically pleasing landscape, which the viewer could conceptualize as an existing space. This allows the viewer to imagine the events of the Bible occurring on familiar soil, deepening connections with the narrative. Additionally, this sublime visual rhetoric elevates viewership, complicating the dichotomy between viewer and painting, and once again allowing a contemplative viewer to transcend passive looking.
The intimate composition of this piece, alongside a clear focus on the emotional facial expressions of the players, confirms its function as a work of private devotion. This allows for a contemplation of the landscape as a facilitator to the desired effect of private, meditative devotion. Rather than utilizing somatic injury to evoke sympathy for Christ, David employs the familiar, making use of the landscape in order to place the viewer within the scene, alongside Christ and other sacred players.
Figure 5. Gerard David, The Lamentation, 1515, Oil on oak panel, 63 x 62.1 cm, National Gallery, London.
Figure 6. Detail: Gerard David, The Lamentation, 1515.
The final lamentation scene being considered (fig. 5) was painted around 1515 in David’s Antwerp workshop.11 This piece once again suggests an interaction with the public lens, as well as an expansion of formal tastes as David moved from Bruges to Antwerp. This piece was also confirmed to be a portion of a public altarpiece, although it lacks the technical skill of its predecessor. This piece is “cut and dry” as far as David’s works go, forgoing a characteristic attention to nuanced turmoil, and instead opting for almost artificial expressions. Observe, for example, the expression of Saint John the Evangelist (fig. 6) which appears almost inhuman and devoid of emotion. There is little attention here, additionally, to anatomical accuracy. This is an anomaly within the Flemish school, as conceptions of anatomical ideals were fundamental to a Naturalist style and indicative of technical skill.12 The background of this piece, however, is an apt demonstration of David’s Italian influence, an innovation which secured his revered status as a Master within the Flemish school. By imitating certain visual rhetoric of Italian artists, David created an air of exoticism around his works, distinguishing himself from his Northern Colleagues.13 This unique effect made his works more desirable, elevating his success in the sixteenth century European market.
Figure 7. Cima da Conegliano, Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint John the Baptist, 1495, Oil on poplar panel, 104 x 146 cm, National Gallery, London.
In The Lamentation (1515), David’s landscape appropriates common formal characteristics of Venetian devotional works (fig. 7).14 Chiaroscuro, defined as a distinct treatment of light and shade in an artwork, is employed through David’s darkened fauna, creating a contrast which is characteristic of Venetian portraiture and broader Italian visual influence. Additionally, an attention to architectural features can once again be observed through David’s depiction of Christ’s tomb. The interaction of natural landscape and architecture evokes a crumbling city, or one which has been swallowed by nature, potentially resembling the appearance of Rome, a city whose unearthing would become an object of interest as Classicism gained popularity. The Lamentation’s situation as an early indicator of David’s evolving Italian influence allows for a consideration of his landscapes as a facilitator to devotion in tandem with their role as a vehicle to the decadent tastes of the Antwerp market.15 This is further evidenced by other works painted in David’s workshop around 1515, such as The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (fig. 8), which demonstrate a more sophisticated iteration of clear Italian influence as David flourished in Antwerp.
Figure 8. Gerard David, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1515, Oil on wood, 53.3 x 39.8 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Contrary to Sally Whitman Coleman’s perspective on landscapes in the Northern Renaissance, Gerard David’s skill for profound Naturalism and architectural detail elevates the functional status of his landscapes. Demonstrating a myriad of diverse functions, landscapes within David’s lamentation scenes painted in 1500, 1505, and 1515, cement each work’s civic and devotional purpose. David’s formal skill creates an air of desirability around his works, making them essential to the export of art from Bruges, and as early indicators of expanding cultural tastes in Antwerp. Furthermore, his skillful sympathetic lens situates landscapes within domestic works as an essential aid to private devotion. With such a pertinent expanse of functions, it is ignorant to dismiss Gerard David’s landscapes as a passive background.
Endnotes
Ingersoll, Catharine, Alisa MacCusker, Jessica Weiss, and Sally Whitman Coleman, “The Dirty Work of Fifteenth Century Landscape Painting,” in Imagery and Ingenuity in Early Modern Europe Essays in Honor of Jeffrey Chipps Smith, (Brepols Publishers, 2019) 217.
Miegroet, Hans J. van. “New Documents Concerning Gerard David,” The Art Bulletin 69, no. 1 (1987) 33. doi.org/10.2307/3051081.
Porras, Stephanie “The Singular Artist, ca. 1490-1520,” in Art of the Northern Renaissance (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2018) 121.
Harbison, Craig. “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art 15, no. 2 (1985) 87. doi.org/10.2307/3780659.
David, Gerard. “Lamentation over the Body of Christ,” The Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Sculpture of Europe. artic.edu/artworks/16261/lamentation-over-the-body-of-christ.
Porras, Stephanie “Mobility, Exports and Migration,” in Art of the Northern Renaissance (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2018) 108.
David, Gerard. “Lamentation,” 1505. Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal. Montreal, Quebec.
Morrison, Karl F. Review of Constructing Empathy*, by Rachel Fulton. The Journal of Religion 84, no. 2. (2004) 264. doi.org/10.1086/381214.
Farmer, John David, “Gerard David’s ‘Lamentation’ and an Anonymous St. Jerome.” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 8 (1976) 42. doi.org/10.2307/4113033.
Gelfand, Laura D, “Devotion, Imitation, and Social Aspirations: Fifteenth-Century Bruges and a Memling School Madonna and Child,” Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 5 (2000) 14. jstor.org/stable/20079704.
David, Gerard, “Lamentation,” National Gallery, London, n.d. nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/gerard-david-lamentation.
Dürer, Albrecht, ”Vier Bücher von Menschlicher Proportion,” (1528)
Meagher, Jennifer, “Gerard David (Born about 1455, Died 1523),” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 2009) metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gera/hd_gera.htm.
“Venetian Painting in the Early Renaissance,” National Gallery of Art, n.d. nga.gov/features/slideshows/venetian-painting-in-the-early-renaissance.html.
Vermeylen, Filip, “Exporting Art across the Globe: The Antwerp Art Market in the Sixteenth Century,” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (NKJ) / Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art 50 (1999) 13. jstor.org/stable/43888638.
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