Bruges Master

Portrait of a Cleric
Now On View

Maker

Bruges Master (Netherlandish, active late 15th century)

Culture

Flemish

Title

Portrait of a Cleric

Year

ca. 1490

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

oil paint

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Bruges, Belgium

Dimensions

22.2 x 14.6 x 5.7 cm (8 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum purchase with funds from Mrs. Gustav Radeke, Manton B. Metcalf, Museum Works of Art Fund and Museum Appropriation Fund, by exchange, and Museum Special Reserve Fund

Object Number

45.042

Type

Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 15: Green

RISD Museum’s Manual 15 Celebrates Green

New life is always shown to us through mokingpu, the color green-the light green stems of rabbitbrush, one of the few colors seen the winter; the tender green shoots of new corn that emerge in the spring against the backdrop of the dry brown earth. Green offers hope. Green represents life.

-Susan Sekaquaptewa

A welcome splash of color after a long winter, the RISD Museum’s fifteenth issue of Manual is awash in shades of green, celebrating the color's myriad associations with nature and growth, environmentalism and sustainable practices, newness and hope (as well as poison and currency) and delving into the histories of specific pigments and processes. Manual 15 opens with an introductory essay by Hopi grower Susan Sekaquaptewa, who details the soft hues of the flora of Northern Arizona. “You appreciate plants more when you develop a relationship with them,” she explains.

This issue of Manual is supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional generous support is provided by the RISD Museum Associates and Sotheby’s.

Exhibition History

European Galleries
Sep 02, 2017

Label copy

This portrait of a man, his hands held in prayer, is painted with brilliant colors and fine detail. Although the subject’s identity is unknown, the shaved spot (tonsure) on the crown of his head indicates his participation in a Christian religious order. In its original setting, the work was probably hung so that his gaze was directed toward another image, most likely depicting the Virgin Mary. Together, these paintings emphasized intimacy with the divine and created a space in which devotion was perpetually reenacted.

Intermission
Dec 16, 2016 – Jul 02, 2017
From the Reserve I
Paintings of Quality from the Museum's Collection
Apr 09, 1994 – Aug 03, 1994
The Facts of Life
Dutch Paintings from the 17th Century
Jun 24, 1988 – Oct 23, 1988

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Bruges Master (Netherlandish, active late 15th century)
Portrait of a Cleric, ca. 1490
Oil on panel
22.2 x 14.6 x 5.7 cm (8 3/4 x 5 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches)
Museum purchase with funds from Mrs. Gustav Radeke, Manton B. Metcalf, Museum Works of Art Fund and Museum Appropriation Fund, by exchange, and Museum Special Reserve Fund 45.042

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.