Otto Pächt

Surveys the life and work of the well-known seventeenth-century Dutch artist and discusses the reasons for the rise and fall of artists' reputations.

The anonymous painter known as the Master of Mary of Burgundy was one of the most talented and inventive of South Netherlandish illuminators.1 The Northern Renaissance got a strong impression of this unique talent with the Master?s illuminated manuscript, ?The Prayer Book of Charles the Bold,? in 1469. The Master worked for his prominent patrons at the court of Burgundy for Charles, the Duke of Burgundy, and his wife, Margaret of York. The Master's name derives from his most notable work, a book of hours made around 1480 for Mary of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles and Margaret. ?The Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy? is the only other work the Master is associated with. The Master is known for depicting the movement of muscles and the expressiveness on the faces of his subject, however his greatest contribution to the illuminated manuscript was the handling of the borders on the manuscript page. This new technique, using trompe l?oeil was perfected in the ?Ghent-Bruges school? of painters.--By Karla Flattery--