Gerard David A Purity of Vision in an Age of Transition
Gerard David (c.1455-1523) has often been dismissed as simply another Flemish artist. But Ainsworth (art history, Columbia Univ.) uses exciting methods to prove otherwise. Through infrared photography and dendrochronology, she discovers underdrawings and dates panels, revealing a dynamic pattern of stylistic change in an era of transition. David's techniques responded to the growing needs of an open market as well as the demands of foreign buyers; as Ainsworth shows, he was innovative and entrepreneurial, able to move from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance with style and spirit. Ainsworth is a senior fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which houses the single greatest collection of David's art, and she uses the collection ably to make her points. Art historians will find this book helpful, but artists will also be interested, since the creative process is here made tangible. [This book won the C.I.N.O.A. Prize for 1998, awarded by an international group of art and antiques dealers.AEd.]ANadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, O.-ANadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OHCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an alternateHardcoveredition.