The Master of Margaret of York is the

Notname In art history, a ''Notname'' (, "necessity-name" or "contingency-name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled, or generically title ...

of an illuminator active in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

between 1470 and 1480. He owes his name to a devotional book he decorated for

Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503)—also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy—was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Burgundian State after his death. She was a daught ...

, wife of

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

. A large number of his illuminated books were executed for

Louis de Gruuthuse Louis de Bruges, Lord of Gruuthuse, Prince of Steenhuijs, Earl of Winchester (Dutch: Lodewijk van Brugge; c. 1427 – 24 November 1492), was a Flemish courtier, bibliophile, soldier and nobleman. He was awarded the title of Earl of Winchester b ...

. Several manuscripts have also been attributed to his assistants.

Patrons

The style of this

anonymous master In art history, an anonymous master is an Old Master whose work is known, but whose name is lost. Renaissance Only in the Renaissance did individual artists in Western Europe acquire personalities known by their peers (some listed by Vasari in his ...

was first characterized by the German art historian

Friedrich Winkler Friedrich Horst Winkler (5 March 1888 – 23 February 1965) was a German art historian specialised in German art, especially the works of Albrecht Dürer, and Early Netherlandish painting from the 15th and 16th century. Biography Friedrich W ...

in 1925. He was undoubtedly an illuminator working in

. Although his name is linked to

Duchess of Burgundy This article lists queens, countesses, and duchesses consort of the Kingdom, County, Duchy of Burgundy. Queen consort of Burgundy Queen consort of the Burgundians (till 534) Frankish Burgundy (534–855) Merovingian dynasty (534–751) ...

and

Countess of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...

, he actually worked much more for

Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

, for whom he painted about fifteen manuscripts, mostly

saints' lives A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

and translations of classical works. The illuminator must have been very close to his patron, because he five times painted portraits or members of his family. So much so that another art historian, Ottokar Smital, preferred to call him the Master of Louis of Bruges. He also took orders from

Anthony, bastard of Burgundy Antoine de Bourgogne (1421 – 5 May 1504), known to his contemporaries as the Bastard of Burgundy or ''Le grand bâtard'' ("the Great Bastard"), was the natural son (and second child) of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, and one of his mistresses ...

Style

The style of the master and its application vary according to the subject of the miniature, and according to the importance of the work ordered. Thus, the characters are more or less detailed according to their importance in the story, some being limited to simple sketches. The landscapes and the settings are generally not very detailed, and the artist shows little concern with their lifelikeness. On the other hand, he highlights the action evoked by the text and the main characters by embodied and expressive faces. His style is often reminiscent of that of

Lieven van Lathem Lieven van Lathem (1430–1493), was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator. Career He was born in Ghent.atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...

, entrusting the decoration and other less important elements to them. His production is so abundant and varied that historians tend to attribute part of it to his assistants, and have managed to distinguish certain artists such as the , with a more tense and agitated style, the Master of the Genealogia Deorum of Bruges, with a looser style, the Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation or the Master of the Life of Saint Colette of Ghent. His style has also been compared to that of the , whom he influenced.

Footnotes

References

* * {{cite book , last1=Kren , first1=Thomas , last2=McKendrick , first2=Scott , date=2003 , title=Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tyA2AgAAQBAJ , location=Los Angeles , publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum , isbn=9780892367047 , access-date=25 July 2021 1470s in art 1470s in the Burgundian Netherlands Early Netherlandish painters Anonymous artists Artists from Bruges Manuscript illuminators Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown