Master Bertram (c.1345–c.1415), also known as Meister Bertram and Master of Minden, was a German
International Gothic
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...
painter primarily of religious art.
Life
Bertram was born in
Minden. He is first recorded in Hamburg in 1367, and lived there for the rest of his life, becoming a citizen and Master in 1376, and achieving considerable prosperity. In 1390 he made a will in advance of an intended pilgrimage to
Rome
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, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, but if he made the journey it had no detectable influence on his art. He was married, but his wife had died by his second will in 1410, when he had a surviving daughter. He died in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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.
Works
His most famous surviving work is the large ''
Grabow Altarpiece
The Grabow Altarpiece (also known as the Petri Altar) was painted by Master Bertram around 1379–1383. Originally located in St. Petri, Hamburg, St. Petri church, it is now in the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany.
It ...
'' (or ''Petri-Altar'') in the
Kunsthalle Hamburg
The Hamburger Kunsthalle is the art museum of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the largest art museums in the country. The museum consists of three connected buildings, dating from 1869 (main building), 1921 (Kuppelsaa ...
, the largest and most important North German painting of the period. There is a 45-scene altarpiece of the
Apocalypse, probably by his workshop, in the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in London. He, or his workshop, also produced sculpture, presumably in wood; in fact in his first years in Hamburg most surviving documentation relates to sculpture, including
chandeliers. A sculpture group depicting
Saint Christopher by his hand is located in
Falsterbo church,
Sweden.
His style is less emotional than that of his Hamburg near-contemporary
Master Francke, but has great charm.
Bertram was largely forgotten after the Renaissance until the end of the 19th century when, like Master Francke, he was rediscovered and published by
Alfred Lichtwark
Alfred Lichtwark (14 November 1852 – 13 January 1914) was a German art historian, museum curator, and art educator in Hamburg. He is one of the founders of museum education and the art education movement.
Background and career
Alfred Li ...
, director of the
Hamburg Kunsthalle.
Literature
* Dube, Elizabeth Healy: "The Grabow Altar of Master Bertram von Minden", Providence, Brown Univ., Diss., 1982
Asteroid
Asteroid
85320 Bertram, discovered by German astronomer
Freimut Börngen in 1995, was named after Master Bertram.
The official was published by the
Minor Planet Center on 18 September 2005 ().
See also
*
List of German painters
This is a list of German painters.
A
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* Hans von Aachen (1552–1615)
* Aatifi (born 1965)
* Karl Abt (1899–1985)
* Tomma Abts (born 1967)
* Andreas Achenbach (1815–1910)
* Oswald Achenbach (1827 ...
References and notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Master Bertram
1345 births
1415 deaths
14th-century German painters
15th-century German painters
German male painters
People from Minden
Artists from Hamburg
Gothic painters