"This important book reexamines the pivotal position of the great Bruges painter Gerard David (ca. 1455-1523), focusing on the motivating forces behind the startling changes in his work caused by shifting devotional practices, changing art markets, the accommodation of foreign clients, and the evolving secular nature of paintings demanded by the newly wealthy middle class in the early years of the sixteenth century ... In order to define more clearly Davids contribution to the history of early Netherlandish painting, Maryan W. Ainsworth has studied more than one hundred works assigned to the artist and his close followers, not simply to solve problems of attribution and dating but also to analyze his working procedures and the ways in which he responded to the changing artistic environment of his time. Each work has undergone close physical examination, often by such technical means as X-radiography, infrared reflectography, and dendrochronology, so that informed conclusions could be drawn about standard practices of the day and innovative methods of production. "--Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
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