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Historical Artist - Gerard David (1460 - 1523)
Netherlandish painter, Gerard David was born in Oudewater but was active mainly in Bruges,
settling there in 1484. He was a member of the painter’s guild and was the city’s
leading painter after Memlinc’s death in 1494. It is also thought that later in his
career, he ran a studio in Antwerp and joined the painter’s guild there under the name
Meester Gheraert van Brugghe. His work was very popular and widely copied by many, including his
admirers Bensen and Ysenbrandt. He painted religious subjects almost exclusively, except for his
depiction of a non-religious legend titled, The Judgement of Cambyses, done for the Bruges town
hall. 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. At the time of David's death,
the glory of Bruges and its painters was on the wane: Antwerp had become the leader in art as
well as in political and commercial importance.
Contemporary Dutch Artists
Art Galleries in the Netherlands
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