David Gerard is a famous painter from the Netherlands. An artist who tried to give softness to his paintings through the use of compositional schemes, poetic motifs of those times.
short biography
David Gerard is a representative of the Northern Renaissance of the early era. Gerard was born in 1460 in the Netherlands. His teacher was his own father. Until the age of 24, the young man lived in his native house, and then moved to Bruges. Here he began to be respected and respected as an artist.
In Bruges, David began to study with Hans Memling, whose impact was significantly felt in the work of the painter. Gerard's style has changed slightly. In 1494, he became the main city painter.
Creativity of the painter
David Gerard is perhaps the most famous person in the field of painting. He made a great contribution to its development. The artist managed to combine iconography and poetic motifs in one drawing. David made juicy, soft and lighted paintings.
Historians do not know the facts about the education that Gerard David had. The paintings of this painter were very popular. Each of his work is subtle and deep. Paintings such as Christmas and The Adoration of the Magi are very similar in style to the works of Hertgen or Dirk Bouts.
There are noticeable changes in the style of the image of people in Gerard at a more mature age. He increasingly portrayed chubby women with large shapes. Apparently, David tried to copy the authors of the past generation.
Already at a later age, David Gerard painted many paintings on poetic themes with a touch of sentimentality. In 1506, David first visited Italy, where he was asked to fulfill the order of the Charvar monastery. The painter’s works have been tried many times to copy.
Painting "Skinning with a corrupt judge"
“The Court of Cambyses”, or “Tearing the Skin from a Sales Judge”, is the famous diptych painting, which the artist finished in 1498. This painting was proud of Gerard David. "Skinning a Sales Judge" is a painting written for the city court of Bruges. This is a kind of reminder that everything in life should be done fairly.
Dutch art of that time was characterized by similar genres of edifying images. The painting depicts the plot of a story that Herodotus described. It was said that the king appointed his half-brother and Gistieem satrap Sard. Otan was appointed commander of the troops, whose father was a royal judge. This was called Judge Sisam. At one time, Sisamn was reckless to pronounce the wrong verdict, but all because he was bribed. The king ordered the execution of the judge. In addition to killing, it was ordered to strip off the skin of Sisamn.
The stripped skin had to be hollowed out, strips made of it in the form of belts, and the judge’s chair, on which the executed man was sitting, was bandaged with them. Otan, the son of the executed judge, was appointed to the place of the royal judge. The king reminded the new judge of the fate of the old and the importance of justice.
In general, Europeans in ancient times welcomed such a punishment for bribery people and traitors. The skin could be stripped from both a living and a dead person. In the archives there are a large number of graphic entries on this topic.