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Hendrik de Clerck

David and Abigail, ca. 1590-1600

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

David and Abigail

Year

ca. 1590-1600

Medium

Pen and ink and brush and wash with traces of squaring in black chalk on laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

23 x 40.2 cm (9 1/8 x 15 13/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed in pen and ink, LC: "HDC" [Nagler, Mon. III, 841, 2932]

Type

Credit

Gift of Miss Ellen D. Sharpe

Object Number

50.302

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer

March 12 - September 4, 2022

In the Bible, the virtuous Abigail appeased King David with gifts after her wealthy but evil husband, Nabal, slighted David’s troops. In this crowded composition, Hendrik de Clerck shows Abigail kneeling in front of David’s horse. De Clerck created his forms with short dashes, circles, and a gossamer-like network of fluidly curling lines, with broader marks used for the landscape and background. As the monogram in the lower center suggests, this drawing was made as an independent work, and not as preparation for a print or painting.

Design and Description

January 27 - April 9, 2006

De Clerck’s use of pen and wash is mannered and idiosyncratic. The ink, applied in curved, abbreviated strokes, and the tonal wash create an overall rhythm across the drawing with little correspondence to either narrative import (the meeting of David and Abigail, found in the lightened central portion) or a natural source of light. The artist’s monogram suggests that this was a finished drawing, intended for a collector who would appreciate the anecdotal detail, various types of figures, and beautifully rendered setting as much as the narrative.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is David and Abigail with the accession number of 50.302. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.