Active mostly in Bruges and Antwerp, Gerard David presents an exacting depiction of the removal of Christ’s body from the cross. Every element is sharply defined and highly detailed, from the pristine teardrops on the mourners’ faces to the skull rendered with nearly clinical clarity. It serves as a reminder of the name of this site: Golgotha, the place of the skull.
Here, David pays tribute to his northern European audience and to the privileged status of his patrons. Peeking out from under the generally traditional garb of Nicodemus, who carries Christ’s legs, are luxurious garments and accessories: his purple drapery opens at the bottom to show that it is worn over a mantle of brocade or damask, lined with luxurious lynx, while his bright red leather boots have a thick, open-toed sole. The artist’s meticulous paint handling compels one to look closely, and doing so brings similar discoveries to light: some of the figures wear swathes of fabric that mostly—but not entirely—hide their fur-trimmed garments, gilded belts, brocaded sleeves, a red velvet purse. To bring this biblical scene home to his local audience, David also includes in the distance, above the mourning woman to the right of the cross, a very Netherlandish windmill perched on a hill.
The Deposition
The somber dignity of the mourning figures and the austere simplicity of this composition greatly impressed David’s contemporaries, who produced a number of copies and variants of The Deposition. The work is among the earliest extant Northern European paintings executed in oil on canvas, rather than on panel; a water-based paint such as tempera is more commonly found in Flemish works on fabric supports at this period. In The Deposition the oil medium brings out the subtle ranges of the cold but vibrant hues and the nuances of the finely rendered details — seen, for example, in the skull and bones hauntingly prominent in the foreground.
Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.
Nieuwenhuys. The Dutch Royal Collection, where it was ascribed to Mabuse. Willem II, King of the Netherlands, sale, August 12, 1850, The Hague, Lot 35, sold for 2,250 florins to de Vries, apparently for Dingwall, Virginia Water, Surrey. J. Dingwall, Tittenhurst, Sunninghill, Berkshire. Thomas Holloway, acquired apparently with the estate of Tittenhurst. Bequeathed by him to his sister-in-law, Miss Mary Ann Driver (Lady Martin-Holloway). Bought in 1912 from the trustees of Miss Driver’s estate by Colnaghi and Obach. Knoedler. Frick, 1915.
Source: Paintings in The Frick Collection: American, British, Dutch, Flemish and German. Volume I. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968.
