Where Is Verso of the first Sketch King Cambyses?

Q: Where can I see this drawing?

This sketch belongs to the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany. The museum holds outstanding Northern Renaissance works alongside its famous Vermeer and Botticelli paintings.

Q: Who was Gerard David?

Gerard David (c. 1460-1523) was the last great painter of the Bruges school. His refined technique and deeply felt religious scenes represent the culmination of Early Netherlandish painting.

Gerard David produced this preparatory sketch as part of his work on the Judgment of Cambyses, a famous diptych depicting a corrupt judge being flayed alive. This verso (back side) drawing reveals David's planning process for one of the most gruesome paintings in art history, commissioned by the city of Bruges to hang in their town hall as a warning against judicial corruption.

The finished Cambyses panels, completed around 1498, show the Persian king ordering the punishment of a judge who accepted bribes. The unflinching depiction of the flaying made it one of the most disturbing images of the Northern Renaissance. This study belongs to the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, which holds important Northern European paintings and drawings.

This sketch belongs to the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany. The museum holds outstanding Northern Renaissance works alongside its famous Vermeer and Botticelli paintings.

Gerard David's Judgment of Cambyses (1498) depicts the Persian king punishing a corrupt judge by having him flayed alive. The gruesome diptych hung in Bruges town hall as a warning to magistrates against accepting bribes.

Gerard David (c. 1460-1523) was the last great painter of the Bruges school. His refined technique and deeply felt religious scenes represent the culmination of Early Netherlandish painting.

Verso of the first Sketch King Cambyses

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Gerard David

The Judgement of Cambyses

Forest Scene

The Judgement of Cambyses (2 panels)

Triptych of the Sedano Family

Also at Städel, Frankfurt am Main

Woman Drinking Wine

St.Mark

Virgin and Child with an Angel

Virgin and Child

About Verso of the first Sketch King Cambyses

Own Art Like This