Gerard David, 'An Augustinian Friar (?) Praying', about 1515

An Augustinian Friar (?) Praying

Gerard David

Not on display

About the work

Overview

A man seems to be kneeling in a doorway or a window frame, hands folded in prayer. We don't know his identity, but he seems to be an Augustinian friar. Members of the Augustinian Order, which was founded in the thirteenth century, took vows of poverty and lived a monastic life. In public they wore a black cowl over a white tunic, like the one we see here.

This panel was clearly the right wing of a diptych or triptych (a painting in two or three parts, respectively), with the object of the friar’s devotions, most likely the Virgin and Child, shown on his left. The landscape behind him is a mix of fact and fantasy: the towers of two Bruges churches have been deposited in rolling countryside, rather than in the middle of a city.

In-depth

A friar seems to be kneeling in a doorway or a window frame, hands folded in prayer; his hair is tonsured – shaved on top – as a sign of religious devotion. This panel was probably the right wing of a diptych or a triptych with the object of the friar’s prayers, most likely the Virgin and Child, shown in the left panel. The towers of two Bruges churches can be seen behind him.

We don't know the identity of the sitter, but he seems to be an Augustinian (a group of mendicant friars formed in the thirteenth century). Augustinians took religious vows and lived a monastic life, and outside their convents they wore a black cowl over a white tunic, like we see here. This man was probably a member of the Augustinian convent which stood on the corner of the Augustijnenrei and the Hoedenmakerstraat in Bruges, close to where Gerard David lived.

The building on the left is the tower of the Collegiate Church of Our Lady in Bruges which, at 115 metres in height, is still the tallest building in the city. It was completed in the fourteenth century, but the steeple was demolished and rebuilt after being hit by lightning in 1519. This helps date the work: the tower is shown as it looked before being rebuilt, so the painting was almost certainly done before 1519. On the right is the tower of the parish church of St Salvator, now Bruges Cathedral. Both are seen from the north and look as they would have done from that direction, but the city centre which lies directly between them has vanished. The towers are perhaps here because the sitter had connections with them, or possibly as an echo of the Virgin and Child (as one church was dedicated to the Virgin, the other to Christ) in the missing left panel.

The appearance of the painting has changed slightly over time. The sky was overpainted – it was originally a brighter blue. The original frame, which is now missing, was at least partly red: there are traces of red earth pigment on both top and side edges. Curiously, the back of the panel has unpainted edges of the same size; the original frame must have had identical openings on both front and back. The back is now painted black but there is a layer containing blue, green and yellow pigment underneath, which might be part of the original decoration.

In the nineteenth century the painting was owned by Prince Albert. After his death in 1862, 25 of his paintings were given to the National Gallery by Queen Victoria, in accordance with his wishes.

Key facts

Details

Full title: An Augustinian Friar (?) Praying
Artist: Gerard David
Artist dates: active 1484; died 1523
Date made: about 1515
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 34.2 × 26.8 cm
Acquisition credit: Presented by Queen Victoria at the Prince Consort's wish, 1863
Inventory number: NG710
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India

Provenance

The portrait belonged to Josef, Count von Rechberg (1769–1833), and was purchased with the rest of his collection in 1815 by Ludwig Kraft Ernst of Oettingen-Wallerstein (1791–1870). Among the Oettingen-Wallerstein paintings sent to England in 1847, it became in 1851 the property of the Prince Consort (1819–61) and was presented, at the Prince Consort's wish, by Queen Victoria in 1863.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Lorne Campbell, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Schools’, London 1998; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1824

J.C. Kohler, 'Die Sammlung altdeutscher Gemälde in dem fürstlichen Schlosse zu Wallerstine', Kunstblatt, V, 1824
1826

W.Y. Ottley, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery: With Critical Remarks on their Merits, London 1826
1854

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
1857

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], translated from German by Elizabeth Eastlake, 3 vols, London 1857, vol. 3
1857

J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, The Early Flemish Painters: Notices of Their Lives and Works, London 1857
1864

National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery: Foreign Schools, London 1864
1865

A. Michiels, Histoire de la peinture flamande depuis ses débuts jusqu'en 1864, Paris 1865
1869

A. Keelhoff, Histoire de l'ancien couvent des ermites de Saint Augustin, Bruges 1869
1884

W.H.J. Weale, Bruges et ses environs, 4th edn, Bruges 1884
1887

National Gallery, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, with Biographical Notices of the Deceased Painters: British and Modern Schools, Lodon 1887
1915

National Gallery, National Gallery: Abridged Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the British and Foreign Pictures, London 1915
1916

M.J. Friedländer, Von Eyck bis Bruegel, Berlin 1916
1923

E. Beck, 'Art and History', The Burlington Magazine, XLIII, 1923, pp. 293-8
1924

M.J. Friedländer, Die altniederländische Malerei, 14 vols, Berlin 1924
1925

National Gallery, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square: Catalogue, London 1925
1945

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School, London 1945
1952

A. Veys, 'Portrait of an Ecclesiastic', in Album English, Bruges 1952, pp. 423-32
1953

M. Davies, The National Gallery, London, Les Primitifs flamands. I, Corpus de la peinture des anciens Pay-Bas méridionaux au quinzième siècle 3, 2 vols, Antwerp 1953
1955

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1955
1970

L.K.E. von Oettingen-Wallerstein, Grundbuch der Hochfürstlich Oettingen-Wallersteinischen altdeutscher Gemaehlde: Erster Teil, gefertiget in den Jahren 1817 u. 1818, Germany 197-?
1973

The National Gallery, The National Gallery: January 1971 - December 1972, London 1973
1981

L. Devliegher, De Sint-Salvatorskatedraal te Brugge, Geschiedenisen Architektuur, Kunstpatrimonium van West-Vlaanderen 7, Tielt 1981
1982

W. Stechow, European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries, The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings 3, Cleveland 1982
1987

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Netherlandish School, 3rd edn, London 1987
1987

D. de Vos, 'Gerard David', in Nationaal biografisch woordenboek, Brussels 1987, vol. 12
1989

M. Ainsworth, 'Northern Renaissance Drawings and Underdrawings: A Proposed Method of Study', Master Drawings, XXVII, 1989, pp. 5-38
1991

J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
1991

A. Verhulst and J.-M. Duvosquel, Historische stedenatlas van België, Brugge, Brussels 1991
1995

D. Martens, 'Identification de deux "portraits" d'église dans la peinture brugeoise de la fin du Moyen Âge', Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerpen, 1995, pp. 29-55
1998

Campbell, Lorne, National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings, London 1998
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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You've viewed 6 of 8 works

Gerard David, 'An Augustinian Friar (?) Praying', about 1515

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Gerard David