Gerard David/Not Gerard
David? On the Use of Patterns in Two Exceptional Miniatures
Diane Scillia,
Kent State University
Attributions of miniatures
to Gerard David have long been a source of debate
among scholars. We have no documents attesting to
his execution of miniatures, only the problematic
miniatures themselves. Some scholars, therefore, hold
that Gerard David painted specific miniatures despite
the lack of archival evidence to support this conclusion;
while others argue, from the same lack of documentary
and archival materials, that he did not paint miniatures
himself only oversaw their production by others. From
Winkler (1913) and Schoene (1937) to the recent works
by Brinkmann (1997), Ainsworth (1998) and Smeyers
(1999), the small corpus of miniatures given to Gerard
David has not varied very much, even if each scholar
mentioned (and others not mentioned), amended it to
suit his or her own needs. What remains, as we see
in Smeyers's text, is the unresolved labeling of these
miniatures to 'Gerard David or his workshop.'
As Ainsworth and others
have shown, patterns played a large role in David's
production of panels made for ad hoc sale and for
export. Patterns must have also played a large role
in the production of miniatures now given to Gerard
David and his workshop. With the help of the newer
technologies, Ainsworth and others have developed
a set of criteria to use in determining whether David
painted a specified panel or if it was produced in
his workshop under his direction. I will use some
of these same criteria in my examination of two specific
miniatures attributed to Gerard David.
Focusing on the St.
Elizabeth in Hungary (fol. 197v) in the Hours
of Isabella the Catholic (The Cleveland Museum
of Art, 63.256), c.1495-1500, and on the Annunciation (f. 39v) in the Croy Hours (Oesterreichische
Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1858), c.1505-1510, I will
show how David used existing patterns, modifying,
re-working and re-vitalizing them. Moreover, in certain
miniatures given to David, we can see exact parallels
to the actual brush strokes and colors he used in
his accepted panels. Additional ties can be seen to
drawings now in Frankfurt, Cracow and Hamburg. Gerard
David's miniatures A? i.e. those he painted himself
A? are 'creative variations' of his contemporary panel
compositions. This may further help us in firmly establishing
categories within Gerard David's 'workshop production,'
specifically: (1) those miniatures he painted himself,
(2) those painted by collaborators under his supervision,
and (3) those made by other miniaturists after patterns
he produced.
<<BACK
|
