Master of Mary of Burgundy
As Master of Mary of Burgundy is Franco- Flemish illuminators called, the one at the end of the 15th century Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy imagined magnificent. Stylistically, he is close to the works of the main master of old Dutch painting in the second half of the 15th century, the painter Hugo van der Goes . Like his altarpieces, the book illuminations by the master of Mary of Burgundy are considered outstanding achievements in the Flemish art of painting of their era. The master painted his miniatures in a nuanced representation of colors and light and gave his figures and their faces a lifelike and lively expressiveness. 1475 the unnamed certainly known artist created the Book of Hours, which then in use of Mary of Burgundy , daughter of Charles the Bold of the future emperor and wife Maximilian I was. The book, now in Vienna, is one of the last highlights of late medieval book illumination in the Netherlands and France, it was created at a time when printed books and, for example, woodcuts for their illustration were already in use.
Painter around the Burgundian court
The master of Mary of Burgundy is said to have illuminated manuscripts for other members of the Burgundian court . By comparing styles, some other important works are ascribed to him, including works for Maria's father, Karl. It is believed that the eponymous book of hours of the master was a gift to Maria from her stepmother Margaret of York .
In his work, the master of Mary of Burgundy is said to have worked with other leading writers and painters, as was customary at the time. Despite various suggestions to equate him with one of the well-known illuminators of his time, an independent personality is mostly seen today in his way of working. Some of the identification proposals need further investigation.
Viennese Master of Mary of Burgundy
The Master of Mary of Burgundy is sometimes called the Viennese Master of Mary of Burgundy , more precisely because of the place where his main work is kept. This is supposed to distinguish him from a painter named Maria von Burgund, also not known by name from Berlin, who painted another, similar book of hours by this regent in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin today.
identification
Ghent-Bruges School
The master of Mary of Burgundy probably worked in Ghent, which was still an important center of illumination around 1475. As usual with many manuscripts, he has collaborated with other artists on works. The text of a book of hours was usually created by a calligrapher and the work was often illustrated by more than one painter. In all attempts to find a single or different hands in the works assigned to the Master of Mary of Burgundy , the eponymous book of hours in particular shows that, despite the possible work of several hands, a unity and consistency can be found in his works, especially in borders is. It can therefore be assumed that, as a master, he was able to achieve this through planning and coordinating the work, i.e. was a leader in the elaboration. The result is works that combine some of the most outstanding achievements of Flemish book art of the late 15th century and are examples of a heyday of ecclesiastical and secular manual book production beyond the individual. This group of illuminators from the period from 1475 to 1520 is also occasionally assigned to a Ghent-Bruges studio or a Ghent-Bruges school, the Master of Mary of Burgundy being one of its leading representatives.
Nicolas Spierinck
It has been argued - convincingly in the opinion of experts - that Nicolas Spierinck, as a leading calligrapher and illuminator, may have created Maria's Vienna Book of Hours together with Liétard van Lathem . However, this identification does not remain undisputed, especially since Spierinck mainly worked as a scribe.
Alexander Bening
The suggestion that the Viennese master of Mary of Burgundy was Sanders (Alexander) Bening (* 1444; † 1519) did not prevail. The biographical data and the verifiable life of this painter, father of the important Flemish miniature painter and illustrator Simon Bening , make working on the book of hours seem improbable.
Simon Marmion
The painter and illuminator Simon Marmion (* 1425, † 1489), who worked in the northern French and Flemish regions , was also proposed as an identity for the master of Mary of Burgundy .
Nicolas van der Goes
Because of the stylistic similarity of the pictures to those of Hugo van der Goes, it was suggested that the master of Mary of Burgundy could be identified with his brother Nicolas van der Goes .
Style elements
The master of Mary of Burgundy wants to achieve the illusion of a true contemplation of the scenes in his work. In the first picture in Mary's Book of Hours, the viewer looks as if by chance through an open window at the scene of an Annunciation. Flowers, jewels, insects and pilgrim symbols such as scallops are scattered around the edges of his pictures as if by chance. Subsequent generations of painters seem to have taken up this type of representation. Illusionistic frames for texts or miniature images challenged the viewer of a devotional book to look at it individually, and the realistically depicted flower tendrils, ornaments or shells and their precise painting style in the Gent-Bruges School of Illumination became the starting point for attempts to deceive the eyes of subsequent generations of painters, including on large-format pictures.
Works (selection)
- Book of hours of Margaret of Burgundy, around 1470; Austrian National Library, Vienna (Cod.Vindob. 1857)
- Book of Hours by Engelbert von Nassau, The Bodleian Library, Oxford
- Charles the Bold 15th Century Prayer Book, Getty Museum, Los Angeles (Getty Museum, Ms. 37)
- El libro de horas voustre demeure (Book of Hours), c. 1480 Bib. Nacional, Madrid (Bib. Nacional, MS Vit. 25–5)
Individual evidence
- ^ Austrian National Library, Cod. Vindob. 1857.
- ↑ B. Brinkmann: The painter and his circle . In: E. König (Ed.): The Berlin Book of Hours of Maria of Burgundy and Emperor Maximilians. Manuscript 78 B 12. Berlin 1998, pp. 111–154.
- ↑ Berlin Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy. Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Prussian Cultural Heritage, signature 78 B 12
- ^ A. De Schryver: Nicolas Spierinc, calligraphe et enlumineur des ordonnances des États de lïHôtel de Charles le Témérair . In Scriptorium 23 (1969), pp. 434-458.
- ↑ G. Hulin de Loo: La vignette chez les enlumineurs gantois entre 1470 and 1500 . Bulletin Ac.Belg. XXI (1939), pp. 158-180.
- ↑ I. von Bredow-Klaus: Heilsrahmen Spiritual pilgrimage and eye-wreckage in the Flemish illumination of the late Middle Ages and the early modern period . Munich 2005.
literature
- The Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy. (Highlights of Book Art 3 - facsimile edition with commentary by F. Unterkircher). Akad. Dr.- und Verl.-Anst., Graz 1993, ISBN 3-201-01600-4 .
- JJG Alexander (Ed.): The Master of Mary of Burgundy: A Book of Hours for Engelbert of Nassau. The Bodleian Library, New York. (Facsimile edition: Phaidon Press, London 1970, ISBN 0-7148-1420-2 )
- A. de Schryver (ed.): The prayer book of Charles the Bold. A Flemish masterpiece for the Burgundy court. (Los Angeles, JP Getty Museum Ms 37). Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7954-1864-9 .