Gerard David

Looking the Part: Ruminative Viewing and the Imagination of Community in the Early Modern Low Countries

“…One of the three documents relating to the execution of the Justice of Cambyses records payment in advance for a scene depicting the 'Judgment and sentencing of our Lord' (Jugement ende Vonnesse Ons Liefs Heeren). 10 Yet even allowing for this, David's painting is remarkable, for it circumscribes the earthly practice of justice with unusual crispness. In most cases, earthly law is religious in its proposed origins and the durability of its findings -a situation exemplified by a panel in the Maastricht town hall that directly compares mundane and celestial judgment (plate 5).…”

“…36 Set in contrast to the groups surrounding them, they embody varieties of individual behaviour, the implications of which are highly specific. 10 Detail of The Legends of Trajan, Gregory, and Herkinbald. Photo: Bernisches Historisches Museum.…”