The Master of the Gold Brocade (Flemish, active circa 1500)

We are grateful to Dr. Hélène Mund for attributing the present lot to the Master of the Gold Brocade, a name assigned to an as yet unidentified artist and his workshop by Max J. Friedländer. Examples of his work are recorded on the art market in Munich (with Schnakenberg, 1924) and in Brussels (one in the Warnant collection and one formerly in that of Baron Descamps).

We are grateful to Mr. Ludwig Meyer for dating the present example of the Maria lactans type (see also the note to lot 163) to the turn of the sixteenth century. Meyer notes that gilt foliate ornament of the type that decorates this picture was a speciality of Brugean artists, and that further comparable examples of this treatment of the present type are recorded on the art market, Madrid and Paris. Mund notes that 'A location in Bruges is possible but not yet proved', as the master also shows 'relationship with Brussels and Ghent models'.