The Master of Frankfurt (1460–c. 1533) was a

Flemish Renaissance painter Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting represents the 16th-century response to Italian Renaissance art in the Low Countries. These artists, who span from the Antwerp Mannerists and Hieronymus Bosch at the start of the 16th century to the late No ...

active in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

between about 1480 and 1520.Stephen H. Goddard, "Master of Frankfurt," ''

Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

ccessed 9 April 2008/ref>Kate Challis, "Master of Frankfurt," ''The Oxford Companion to Western Art'', ed. Hugh Brigstocke, Oxford University Press, 2001 (''Grove Art Online'', Oxford University Press, 2005). ccessed 9 April 2008/ref> Although he probably never visited

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, his name derives from two paintings commissioned from patrons in that city, the ''Holy Kinship'' (c. 1503) in the Frankfurt Historical Museum and a ''Crucifixion'' in the

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

museum. He is one of many anonymous artists identifiable by their

painting style In the visual arts, style is a "...distinctive manner which permits the grouping of works into related categories" or "...any distinctive, and therefore recognizable, way in which an act is performed or an artifact made or ought to be performed a ...

but not by name. The Master of Frankfurt is, however, often thought to be a Hendrik van Wueluwe, an artist famous in Antwerp around the same time as the anonymous painter but otherwise unconnected to any paintings. His dated ''Self portrait of the artist with his wife'' in its original frame (1496;

Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'', ''KMSKA'') is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth t ...

) reveals that the artist was 36 years old at the time it was made, as well as a member of Antwerp's

Guild of St. Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

. If he is the same artist as Van Wueluwe, then he was also dean of the guild six times. Attributed paintings include his self-portrait, the ''Festival of the Archers'' (1493; Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp), and the two paintings in Frankfurt. The Master of Frankfurt is also known for painting numerous copies after earlier Netherlandish painters such as

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...

and

Hugo van der Goes Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) was one of the most significant and original Flemish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced important innovations in pa ...

for the open market and for developing, around 1500 in Antwerp, a new artistic style alongside his more famous contemporary Quentin Metsys.

Museum collections

Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York; Master of Frankfurt, ''The Adoration of the Christ Child'', ca. 1496-1502
Musée du Louvre
Paris; Master of Frankfurt, ''Vierge à l'Enfant dans un paysage'', ca. 1514
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Madrid; Maestro of Frankfurt, ''La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family)'', ca. 1508
Museo National de Prado
Madrid; Maestro de Francfort, ''Sagrada Familia con ángel músico, Santa Catalina de Alejandría, Santa Bárbara'', ca. 1510-1520 (Video: Restoration of the Master of Frankfurt triptych, by María Antonia López Asiaín)
Detroit Institute of Arts
Michigan; Master of Frankfurt, ''The Virgin Enthroned''
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, Austria; Master of Frankfurt, Triptych, ''Adoration of the Magi'', the ''Nativity'' (left) and the ''Circumcision'' (right), c.1512
Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery
The Hague; Meester van Frankfurt, ''Saint Christopher'', ca. 1500
''Saint Catherine''
1510–1520, an
''Saint Barbara''
1510-1520
National Gallery of Art
Washington D.C.; Master of Frankfurt, ''Saint Anne with the Virgin and the Christ Child'', ca.1511-15

Barcelona; Mestre de Frankfurt, ''Triptych of the Baptism of Christ'', 1500-1520
National Museums Liverpool
Liverpool, UK; Master of Frankfurt, ''The Holy Family with Music Making Angels'', 1510-1520
Norton Museum of Art
West Palm Beach, Florida; Master of Frankfurt, ''The Lamentation''
San Diego Museum of Art
California; Master of Frankfurt, ''Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saints and Angles'', ca. 1500-1510
The Walters Art Museum
Maryland; Master of Frankfurt, ''Virgin and Child Enthroned'', ca. 1515-1520
The Wilanów Palace Museum (Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie) Poland
Master of Frankfurt, ''Madonna and Child crowned by two angels'', ca. 1490s
Historical Museum (Historisches Museum)
Frankfurt, Meister von Frankfurt, ''St. Anne Altarpiece'', ca 1505, ''Two Saints: St. Odilia and St. Cecilia'', ca. 1505
The McNay Museum
San Antonio, Texas; Master of Frankfurt, ''St. Barbara'' and ''St. Catherine''
Queensland Art Gallery
Brisbane, Australia; Master of Frankfurt, ''Virgin and Child with Saint James the Pilgrim, Saint Catherine and the Donor with Saint Peter'', ca. 1496

Selected works

Image: Master of Frankfurt - Virgin and Child Enthroned - Walters 37773.jpg, Attributed to the Master of Frankfurt, ''Virgin and Child Enthroned'', ca. 1515–1520, oil on panel, 30 13/16 x 22 3/16 in. (78.3 x 56.3 cm),

The Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

File:Master of Frankfurt, Two Saints, St. Odilia and St. Cecilia, ca. 1503–1506, oil on panel, 44 1-2 x 26 3-4 in., Historisches Museum, Frankfurt..jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''Saint Odile and Saint Cecilia'', ca. 1503–1506, oil on panel, 113 x 67.9 cm (44 1/2 x 26 3/4 in.)
Historical museum, Frankfurt
This painting, rendered in

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

, forms part of the outer wings of the ''Altarpiece of St. Anne'' commissioned for the Dominican Church of Frankfurt circa 1504. File:Master of Frankfurt - Triptych of the Baptism of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg, Master of Frankfurt, Triptych of the Baptism of Christ, Oil and gold leaf on wood, 169.2 x 213.5 x 5.5 cm,

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Ma ...

, MNAC. File:Attributed to the Master of Frankfurt - Holy Family with Music Making Angels - Google Art Project.jpg, Attributed to the Master of Frankfurt, ''Holy Family with Music Making Angels'', circa 1515, oil on panel, ,

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

, Liverpool. This is the central panel of a triptych altarpiece. The two side panels depict two virgin martyrs, ''St Catherine'' and ''St Barbara'' (now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague). File:Master of Frankfurt, St Catherine, St Barbara, 1510-1520, oil on panel 158.7 x 70.8 cm (each), Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague..jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''St Catherine, St Barbara'', 1510–1520, oil on panel 158.7 x 70.8 cm (each), The Royal Picture Gallery

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

, The Hague. These are the left and right panels of a triptych altarpiece. The central panel depicts the ''Holy Family with Music Making Angels'' (now in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). File:Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saints and Angles by Master of Frankfurt, San Diego Museum of Art.jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine with Saints and Angles'', ca. 1500–1510, oil on panel, ,

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

. File:Master of Frankfurt, Vierge a l'Enfant dans un paysage, ca. 1514, 77 x 46 cm, Musee du Louvre, Paris, France..jpg, Master of Frankfurt (Maitre de Francfort), ''Vierge à l'Enfant dans un paysage '', ca. 1514, 77 x 46 cm,

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Paris File:Schuttersfeest, Meester van Frankfurt, (1493), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 529.jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''Festival of the Archers'', 1493.

. This was painted for Antwerp's

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

of the Ancient

Crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...

. Image:HMF Altar Hl Anna DSC 1505 6321.jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''St. Anne Altarpiece'', circa 1505, ,

Historical museum, Frankfurt The Historical Museum (German: Historisches Museum) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was founded in 1878, and includes cultural and historical objects relating to the history of Frankfurt and Germany. It moved into the Saalhof in 1955, and a new ex ...

. Created ca. 1505 for the Monastery of the Dominican Order in Frankfurt. File:Master of Frankfort, The Virgin Enthroned, oil on oak panel, 72.4 x 58.7 cm, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit..jpg, Master of Frankfurt, ''The Virgin Enthroned'', oil on oak panel, 28 1/2 x 23 1/8 in. (72.4 x 58.7 cm),

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

, Detroit

References

External links

*
Entry for the Master of Frankfurt
in the

Union List of Artist Names The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) is a free online database of the Getty Research Institute using a controlled vocabulary, which by 2018 contained over 300,000 artists and over 720,000 names for them, as well as other information about artist ...

Fifteenth- to eighteenth-century European paintings: France, Central Europe, the Netherlands, Spain, and Great Britain
a collection catalog fully available online as a PDF, which contains material on the Master of Frankfurt (cat. no. 18)
Agence photographique de la réunion des Musées nationaux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Master of Frankfurt 1460 births 1530s deaths Renaissance painters Frankfurt, Master of Painters from Antwerp