Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece

Last updated
Central panel of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece (Alte Pinakothek, Munich) Meister des Bartholomausaltars 001.jpg
Central panel of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)

The Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece (sometimes called the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altar [1] ) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Germany, mostly Cologne, between 1475 [1] /1480 and 1510. [2] Despite his anonymity, he is one of the most recognizable artists of the early Renaissance period in German art. [3]

Contents

It has been said that the Master is the last "Gothic" painter to be active in Cologne. Approximately twenty-five paintings have been attributed to him [1] on the basis of his highly individual style, which does not seem to bear any affinity to that of any other school then active locally. [2] Despite the fact that he seems to have been the leading painter of his time in Cologne, no evidence of any followers, or of a school in the usual sense, may be found. [1]

Baptism of Christ, National Gallery of Art The Baptism of Christ E10530.jpg
Baptism of Christ , National Gallery of Art

A number of influences, mainly Netherlandish, have been traced in the Master's paintings. These include Dirck Bouts and Rogier van der Weyden, [4] [5] whose influence may be seen in the Munich Madonna and Child with Saint Anne. Stylistically, the Master's paintings are characterized by their use of bright, enamel-like colors [5] and an affinity to the International Gothic style of painting. [6]

Career

Almost nothing is known of his life, including his name; nevertheless, his hand is distinctive enough that scholars have found it fairly easy to trace his career. [2] His name is derived from an altarpiece dated to between 1505 and 1510, depicting Saint Bartholomew flanked by Saint Agnes and Saint Cecilia. The painting is known to have hung in the church of St. Kolumba, Cologne; the inclusion of a Carthusian monk in the picture indicates a possible connection to the Carthusian monastery in that city. [1] The identity of the Master remains unknown; it has been suggested, given the number of commissions he executed for the Carthusian order, that he may have been a member himself. [1]

Descent from the Cross (National Gallery, London) Master of the Bartholomew Altarpiece-01.jpg
Descent from the Cross (National Gallery, London)

It is now believed that, despite his associations with Cologne, and with German artistic circles, elements of his style suggest that the Master was initially trained in the Netherlands - a point of origin in Utrecht, or in the Gelderland region, has been posited. A Book of Hours, open to an identifiably middle Netherlandish text, in the hand of Saint Columba in a panel attributed to the Master conserved at Mainz, [7] offers a clue to his cultural origins. It is further suggested that he emigrated to Cologne in about 1480. [1] [2] His early style may be seen in the miniatures he painted for the Book of Hours of Sophia van Bylant; the Flagellation in this collection is dated to 1475, the earliest date associated with the Master. The calendar in the book is that of the diocese of Utrecht; nevertheless, certain oddities of language indicate an affinity with Arnhem, which was also the home of the donor. [1]

Other early works, dated to the 1480s, include an Adoration of the Kings and a Madonna and Child with Saint Anne , both of which exhibit affinities with northern Netherlandish painting and may have been created in the Netherlands. Among the very few works attributed to the Master for which the original location is documented are a pair of altarpieces commissioned for the Carthusian monastery in Cologne by a lawyer, Dr. Peter Rinck, [1] and the Deposition, now at the Musée du Louvre, that was executed for the hospital of the Antonite brothers in Paris. [8]

Collections

The Master's work may be found in a number of international museum collections. Three panels from the altarpiece which gave him his name are in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and the Deposition for the Order of St Anthony is at the Musée du Louvre. There are four works in the National Gallery, London [9] and a double-sided panel of the Journey of the Magi (or Three Kings) and the Assumption of Mary at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. [2] A Baptism of Christ is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. [1] Other paintings are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; [10] the Philadelphia Museum of Art; [11] and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne. [12] A Death of the Virgin formerly in Berlin is now lost. [6]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NGA
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Getty
  3. The modern monograph is Rainer Budde and Roland Krischel, eds. Genie ohne Namen. Der Meister des Bartholomäus-Altars (2001), based on an exhibition at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum.
  4. WGA
  5. 1 2 Cartage Archived 2007-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 it:Maestro dell'Altare di san Bartolomeo
  7. Pieper 2000.
  8. Marjorie O'Rourke Boyle, "Coquette at the Cross? Magdalen in the Master of the Bartholomew Altar's Deposition 59.4 (1996:573-577).
  9. National Gallery
  10. Boston
  11. Philadelphia Museum of Art
  12. Wallraf-Richartz Museum

Further reading

in English

in German

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Lochner</span> German late Gothic style painter (c. 1410–1451)

Stefan Lochner was a German painter working in the late International Gothic period. His paintings combine that era's tendency toward long flowing lines and brilliant colours with the realism, virtuoso surface textures and innovative iconography of the early Northern Renaissance. Based in Cologne, a commercial and artistic hub of northern Europe, Lochner was one of the most important German painters before Albrecht Dürer. Extant works include single-panel oil paintings, devotional polyptychs and illuminated manuscripts, which often feature fanciful and blue-winged angels. Today some thirty-seven individual panels are attributed to him with confidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallraf–Richartz Museum</span> Museum in Cologne, Germany

The Wallraf–Richartz Museum is an art museum in Cologne, Germany, with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century. It is one of the three major museums in Cologne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy</span>

Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy was an unidentified Early Netherlandish painter from Bruges. His name comes from an altarpiece in the church of Saint James in Bruges, dated 1480, depicting three scenes from the life of Saint Lucy. Since then, twenty-five to thirty-five paintings have been attributed to the same hand. He may have trained Spanish students at his studio in Bruges. Many of his paintings are characterized by views of the city of Bruges in the background, and can be dated according to the level of construction of its belfry. He may have trained with Dieric Bouts, and was certainly influenced by Hans Memling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joos van Cleve</span> Flemish painter

Joos van Cleve was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the traditional techniques of Early Netherlandish painting with influences of more contemporary Renaissance painting styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Life of the Virgin</span> Late Gothic German painter

The Master of the Life of the Virgin, in German the Meister des Marienlebens,, is the pseudonym given to a late Gothic German painter working in Cologne. He can also be known as the Master of Wilten, or Johann van Duyren, an identification not universally accepted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cologne Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery in Germany

Cologne Charterhouse was a Carthusian monastery or charterhouse established in the Severinsviertel district, in the present Altstadt-Süd, of Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1334, the monastery developed into the largest charterhouse in Germany until it was forcibly dissolved in 1794 by the invading French Revolutionary troops. The building complex was then neglected until World War II, when it was mostly destroyed. The present building complex is very largely a post-war reconstruction. Since 1928, the Carthusian church, dedicated to Saint Barbara, has belonged to the Protestant congregation of Cologne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colijn de Coter</span> Early Netherlandish painter

Colijn de Coter was an early Netherlandish painter who produced mainly altarpieces. He worked primarily in Brussels and Antwerp. His name was sometimes given as Colijn van Brusele, indicating that he hailed from Brussels or at least that he lived there most of his active life. He also signed several paintings with Coliin de Coter pinxit me in Brabancia Bruselle.

<i>Juno and Argus</i> 1610 painting by Peter Paul Rubens

Juno and Argus is a 1610 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, depicting Juno and Argus. It is now in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cologne School of Painting</span> German art movement

The Cologne School of Painting is a style of painting. The term was first applied in the 19th century to describe old German paintings generally. It subsequently came to refer more specifically to painters who had their workshops in medieval Cologne and the lower-Rhine region from about 1300 to 1550.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Aachen Altar</span> German painter

The notname Master of the Aachen Altar is given to an anonymous late gothic painter active in Cologne between 1495 and 1520 or 1480 and 1520, named for his master work, the Aachen Altar triptych owned by the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. Along with the Master of St Severin and the Master of the legend of St. Ursula he is part of a group of painters who were active in Cologne at the beginning of the sixteenth century and were Cologne's last significant practitioners of late gothic painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinand Franz Wallraf</span> German botanist, mathematician, theologian, art collector and priest

Ferdinand Franz Wallraf was a German botanist, mathematician, theologian, art collector and Roman Catholic priest. His collection formed the founding nucleus of the Wallraf–Richartz Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine</span>

The Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine is the notname for an unknown late 15th century Early Netherlandish painter. He was named after a painting with Scenes from the Legend of Saint Catherine, now kept in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. He was active between c. 1470 and c. 1500, probably around Brussels.

Bettina Baumgärtel is a German art historian who is head of the painting collection of the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf. She is a leading authority on the art of Angelica Kauffman and founded the Angelika Kauffmann Research Project (AKRP), of which she is the director, in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Hirtz</span> German painter

Hans Hirtz or Hirtze was a German painter of the late Gothic period, recognized as a major painter by art historians as early as the 16th century. He was active between 1421 and 1463 in Strasbourg and other areas of the Upper Rhine. His years of birth and death are unknown, though a reference to his widow in a document of 1466 shows he died before that date - the document shows that she remarried to the Strasbourg stained-glass artist Peter Hemmel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Karlsruhe Passion</span> German painter

The Master of the Karlsruhe Passion is the notname of a German painter of the late Gothic period active in the Upper Rhine. Very influential on other painters in the region, he may be identified with the Strasbourg painter Hans Hirtz. He is named after his main work, the Karlsruhe Passion, though he may also have been the artist behind the murals in the former Dominican church in Strasbourg, only known through two 17th century copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Holy Kinship</span>

The Master of the Holy Kinship the Younger is a German painter of the Middle Ages who was active between 1475 and 1515 in Cologne and its environs. He is designated "The Younger" to distinguish him from another Master, given the same name, who worked in that area from 1410 to 1440.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Wasservass Calvary</span> German painter

The Master of the Wasservass Calvary is the notname for a painter active in Cologne between 1415 and 1435. He is relatively unusual in Cologne art of his time, owing more to Burgundian manuscript illuminating and Early Netherlandish painting of the time.

Hans Wilhelm Hupp (1896–1943) was a German art historian, author and curator. From 1933 to 1943 he directed the Museum Kunstpalast of the city of Düsseldorf..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katja Terlau</span> German art historian

Katja Terlau is a German art historian and provenance researcher. She was a co-initiator and founding member of the international Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung in Germany, founded in 2000 and is considered a pioneer of German Provenance Research, which she entered after the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art of 1998. Her main subject area is looted art; a number of museum holdings and large Jewish collections have been processed by her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Legend of Saint Bruno</span> German 15th-century painter

The Master of the Legend of Saint Bruno is the "notname" of an anonymous Gothic painter who was active in Cologne in the late 15th century. He is best known for the cycle of paintings on canvas produced for Cologne Charterhouse after which he is named.