__NOTOC__ The Master of the Life of the Virgin, in German the Meister des Marienlebens, (working ca. 1463 — ca. 1490), is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

given to a late Gothic German painter working in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He can also be known as the Master of Wilten, or Johann van Duyren, an identification not universally accepted. His workshop is identified by his masterwork, a series of eight depictions of conventional scenes from the

Life of the Virgin The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the ...

Mary, painted for the Ursulakirche, Cologne; seven are in the

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...

, Munich, and one in the National Gallery, London, who also have the four outer panels from an altarpiece from

Werden Werden is a southern borough of the city of Essen in Germany. It belongs to the city district ''IX Werden/Kettwig/Bredeney'' and has 9,998 inhabitants as of June 30, 2006. The borough occupies a space of and is situated at a median height of . _ ...

, whose central panel appears to be lost. Further works recognizable by their style and handling are the ''

Crucifixion of Christ The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

'' for the hospital chapel,

Bernkastel-Kues Bernkastel-Kues () is a town on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a well-known winegrowing centre. The town is a state-recognized health resort (''Erholungsort''), seat of the ''Ver ...

; the ''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

'' in the

Germanisches Nationalmuseum The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...

, Nuremberg; and the ''Crucifixion'' and ''

Deposition of Christ The Descent from the Cross ( el, Ἀποκαθήλωσις, ''Apokathelosis''), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after hi ...

'' at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne. Through the detectable influence of Netherlandish painters including

Dirk Bouts Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlie ...

and

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 ...

, it is generally suggested that he must have received some training in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. Though his name is unknown, through his paintings he has become the most celebrated Late Gothic painter of the Cologne School. His elegant figural style is well enough known that his considerable influence can be detected in the work of other painters in Cologne. He is not to be confused with another 13th-century Norwegian "Master of the Life of the Virgin", the late 15th-century Venetian "Master of the Louvre Life of the Virgin,"Joconde
/ref> or the three artists each known as the Master of the Death of the Virgin.

Gallery

Seven of the eight scenes from the eponymous ''Life of the Virgin'', in Munich with one exception. The final ''Assumption'' is missing. image:Meister des Marienlebens 004.jpg, Meeting at the Golden Gate image:Meister des Marienlebens 005.jpg,

Nativity of Mary The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bi ...

image:Meister des Marienlebens 10.jpg,

Presentation of Mary The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The feas ...

image:Meister des Marienlebens marriage.jpg,

Marriage of the Virgin The Marriage of the Virgin is the subject in Christian art depicting the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The marriage is not mentioned in the canonical Gospels but is covered in several apocryphal sources and in later redactions, no ...

image:Meister des Marienlebens annunciation.jpg, Annunciation image:Meister des Marienlebens visitation.jpg, Visitation image:Meister des Marienlebens candlemas.jpg,

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (or ''in the temple'') is an early episode in the life of Jesus Christ, describing his presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem, that is celebrated by many churches 40 days after Christmas on Candlemas, o ...

, London

Notes

External links

Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe: ''Portrait of a Scholar'', attributed to the Meister des Marienlebens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Master of the Life of the Virgin 15th-century German painters Gothic painters

Artists from Cologne

Gallery

Notes

Further reading

External links