Research and Describe an Object from NY Collection

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The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt can be compared to other paintings by David in Antwerp, Washington, Madrid and Virgin and Child in Rotterdam. Although its composition is almost identical to the Washington and Madrid paintings, the New York’s one has an apple branch in the place of the basket shown in the other works. Significantly, The Flight into Egypt, a favorite theme with the painters in various periods, is derived from the Gospel according to Mathew (2:13-18), as illustrated by the medieval theologians and Early Christians. Most importantly, it is one of the most peaceful and loveliest creations of Gerard David.
It is believed that David painted it in different compositions on several occasions for the open markets and not as a result of commissions. The works are almost alike but have subtle altered details. However, the similarity in all the paintings is how David focuses his attention on the breastfed Christ Child by Virgin Mary seated at the front of a forest backdrop. Moreover, the scene in the far background is interpreted to relate to either the journey to Egypt or rest. Interestingly, the apocryphal legends say the tired family was resting after three days of traveling. It explains, the Virgin Mary wanted food, but the high branches of date-palm deterred Joseph from picking any fruit. Consequently, Christ Child then commanded the date-palm to lower its branches.
In the works, David has deemphasized the miracle by placing the Flemish chestnut tree instead of date-palm and putting a sturdy stick in Joseph’s hand. The story of apocryphal was familiar to the sixteenth-century audience. Furthermore, there are specific and unique indications of the family. For instance, the Madonna holding a bunch of grapes, the symbol of Eucharist, wears red and blue colored robes that transmit light rays of golden light which comes from the Virgin Mary’s head to the Christ Child. Subsequently, the mood of calm equilibrium is created by David’s placing of the Child and Madonna centrally. The alternating bands of light and dark and the declining diagonals are skillfully pushed back into the backdrop thus pleasantly connect to the figures of their backgrounds. The blue color unifies the composition of work and gives it the restful theme.
Gerard David (1460-ca 1523)
Life
He was born approximately in c.1460 in Oudewater, currently located in Utrecht. From the available records, the self-portrait dated 1509 shows he was around 50 years old at the time. It is believed he spent a significant part of his adult life in Bruges. Significantly, the death of Hans Memling in 1494 helped David become the leading painter in Bruges. David joined the Guild at Bruges in 1484 before becoming its dean in 1501. Likewise, he married Cornelia Cnoop, a dean of the goldsmiths’ guild daughter in 1496.
Ambrosius Benson was an apprentice of David until around 1519 when there was a dispute between them on some drawings and paintings collected from various artists by Benson. The disagreement resulted in David refusing to return the materials to Benson due to the massive debt owed. However, Benson used legal means to recover the documents and landed David in jail (Ainsworth 35). On 13 August of 1523, David died and was buried in the Church of Our Lady at Bruges. The public had forgotten entirely about David before he was raised from the oblivion by Weale Henry William. It was William's study in the archives of Bruges that discovered the main facts of the artist leading to reconstruction of his personality as a painter. The investigation began on the Virgin Among Virgins, his only documented work in Rouen.
Style of David
The surviving works of David mainly consist of religious scenes. They are characterized by a timeless, atmospheric and dreamlike peacefulness that is achieved through warm, subtle and soft coloration coupled with masterful treatment of light and shadow. He is innovative in his landscaping approach and recasting the traditional themes that eventually emerge as the only genre of northern European painting. His landscaping talent is displayed in the detailed foliage of the forest scene in the New York Nativity and Triptych of the Baptism.
There are many early 20th century historians including Jakob Max and Panofsky Erwin who saw David as an artist who did little but distilled other painters' styles before painting in unimaginative and archaic style. In contrast, many historians today see him as a master painter and colorist who according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, worked in an active and reformist mode by abandoning the medieval tradition and continuing with an absolute purity of vision during the age of transition. It is worthy to note David followed painters such as Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Albert van Oudewater Dirk Bouts despite having shown evidence as a superior colorist.
Bruges’s Leading Painter
Gerard was one of the Bruges city's leading painters. Bruges, a city in Belgium, was a leading Flemish port dealing in international cloth and flourishing banking center in the late Middle Ages. The Bruges's growing prosperity naturally attracted numerous artists both local and foreign ready to capitalize on the wealthy patrons such as the wealthy merchants and Dukes of Burgundy. Before he was cited as a painting master, David relocated from Holland to Bruges at around 1484.
It was three years before David could receive one of the most significant breakthroughs, the Bruges city magistrate commissioning him to paint a diptych on the Judgment of Cambyses (Groeninge Museum, Bruges) of town hall chambers of Aldermen. In the narrative, Herodotus is providing shocking lessons to powerful politicians by recounting the arrest and flaying of the corrupt Judge Sisamnes (Friedländer 267). Conversely, the Judgement of Cambyses is one of the few commissioned work of David; most of his paintings were for private devotion and religious altarpieces for the public. David's paintings have delicate treatment and dominant blue tonality that creates gentle harmony and exquisite mood.
Legacy of David
During the time of his death, the city of Bruges's glory and that of its artists was on the downward trend and fast waning. Antwerp had gained the reputation as the leader in commercial, political and art. The only ap...