The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Nicholas [left panel]

Gerard David and Workshop

National Gallery of Art

An older, pale-skinned man wearing a richly brocaded robe and bishop’s mitre stands under a rounded arch in front of a deep landscape in this tall, narrow, vertical painting. The man faces our right and has a deeply lined face with light brown eyes under thick brows, a long nose, and a pale, closed mouth. His dimpled chin and jowly neck are tinged with a five-o-clock shadow. The pointed gold mitre on his head is encrusted with pearls and ruby-red, olive-green, and dark gray gems. He wears a long white garment under a scarlet-red and shimmering gold brocaded robe. Bands down the shoulders and front of the robe show angels, an eagle, and a collection of objects. He wears marine-blue gloves and gold rings on both hands. One hand is held in front of his chest, the first two fingers extended. He holds a crozier, a staff with a gold, spiraling top, in the other hand. He stands on a pink and blue tiled floor near a gray step. The arched opening behind him gives way to a landscape with trees, gray stone towers, and distant blue hills under a pale blue sky.