Master E. S. (c. 1420 – c. 1468), (previously known as the Master of 1466) is an unidentified German engraver, goldsmith, and printmaker of the late Gothic period. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it A goldsmith is a Metalworker who specializes in working with Gold and other Precious metals usually in modern times to make Jewelry. Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper. This article is about Gothic art See also Gothic architecture Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that lasted about 200 He was the first major German artist of old master prints and was greatly copied and imitated. An old master print is a work of art produced by a Printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World The name, Master E. S. , is derived from the monogram, E. S. , which appears on eighteen of his prints (variants appear on others). The title, Master, is used for unidentified artists who operated independently. A master craftsman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster, Meister was a member of a Guild. He was probably the first printmaker to place his initials on his work. Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper.
Remaining signed works by E. S. indicate that he was active in printmaking from 1450 to 1467, the latest date to appear on one of his prints. After this date, he is presumed to have died. He was the most distinguished German engraver before Martin Schongauer. Martin Schongauer (c 1448 &ndash February 2, 1491) was a German Engraver and painter.
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Life
Master E. S. probably came from southwestern Germany or Switzerland, as did the engraver called the Master of the Playing Cards. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The Master of the Playing Cards was the first major master in the history of Printmaking. This view rests mainly on stylistic comparisons with the contemporary painting of that region. Although evidence indicates that he was most active in the Upper Rhine region, there also is evidence that he visited Mainz, to the south on the Rhine at the confluence of the Main River opposite Wiesbaden, a major economic and cultural centre. The Upper Rhine (Oberrhein is the part of the Rhine that flows northbound after Basel, Switzerland, along the Rhine rift, and then westward Mainz (ˈmaɪ̯nʦ (Mayence is a City in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge The Main (maɪn is a River in Germany, 524 km (329 miles long (including White Main 574 km (357 mi and it is one of the more significant tributaries Wiesbaden, a city in southwest Germany, is the capital of the state of Hesse.
None of the attempts to match documented persons with his initials have met with general acceptance. The term master meant someone who had completed an apprenticeship and ran his own workshop, as E. A master craftsman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster, Meister was a member of a Guild. S. clearly did. Marriage and employing apprentices to learn the skills could sometimes also be requirements.
E. S. probably came from a background and training as a goldsmith, rather than as a painter. He sometimes used goldsmith punches in his prints (for example, to make the circles on the borders of the clothes in the Delilah print above) and some works are clearly designs for metalwork. He was the first printmaker to sign his prints with an engraved monogram, which was standard practice on significant pieces of metalwork. Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper. He engraved two images of Saint Eligius, the patron-saint of goldsmiths. Saint Eligius or Loye ( French: Éloi) (ca 588-590 - December 1, 659 or 660 is the Patron saint of goldsmiths and other He liked to fill his engravings with decorative detail, sometimes overloading the composition, and only slowly does a sense of volume or recession develop in his work.
Since his earliest prints show a practiced use of the burin, he is presumed to have worked as a goldsmith for some years before beginning printmaking. Burin from the French burin meaning "cold Chisel " has two specialised meanings for types of tools in English one meaning a Steel A goldsmith is a Metalworker who specializes in working with Gold and other Precious metals usually in modern times to make Jewelry. His date of birth is estimated on this basis. His level of production of prints probably means that he worked on these only during his later years. Another important printmaker and goldsmith, Israhel van Meckenem, was probably his leading assistant at the end of his career and forty-one of his plates passed to him, being reworked by van Meckenem. Israhel van Meckenem (also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, c
Work
Shestack divides the engravings of E. S. into three stylistic periods: around 1450, up to 1460, and after 1460. During the second period he made significant technical developments. Firstly, deeper incisions with the burin, which allowed more impressions to be taken from each plate, although the number still may have been limited to about sixty or so, before wear on the plate began to show and reworking was necessary for it to be used again. Burin from the French burin meaning "cold Chisel " has two specialised meanings for types of tools in English one meaning a Steel His use of hatching (parallel lines) and cross-hatching to depict shading and volume, steadily grew more sophisticated and his figure-drawing became more confident, sometimes over-confident. Many figures of this period have contorted poses even when at rest. In works from the third period, his figures are more relaxed and flat surfaces are given prominence in the compositions.
Many faces of his subjects have a rather pudding-like appearance, and are overly-large for their bodies, which diminishes the quality of otherwise, fine works. Much of his work still has great charm, and the secular and comic subjects he engraved are rarely found in the surviving painting of the period.
Lehrs catalogues three hundred and eighteen engravings by E. S. and of these, ninety-five are unique, and fifty exist in only two impressions (copies). There are a further thirty-eight engravings by his probable assistant, Israhel van Meckenem, which are considered to be copies of engravings by E. Israhel van Meckenem (also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, c S. which have not survived. In total, Shestack estimates, there may have been about five hundred engravings by E. S.
Drawings
Two very fine drawings, universally accepted as works by E. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium S. , are in Berlin and the Louvre, but there are others which are disputed. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France The composition of the Baptism of Christ (picture at right), which is in the Louvre, was turned into two engravings by E. S. , in doing which he complicated the compositions, filling empty spaces with new detail. Shestack considers that this reveals that his compositional method, here and perhaps commonly, was to begin by copying accurately a painting or other work by someone else. He then, in working on the engraving, introduced extra detail in a goldsmith's style.
Ars Moriendi
He produced a series of eleven engravings for the Ars moriendi (The Art of Dying), a very popular devotional work. Ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying" is the name of two related Latin texts dating from about 1415 and 1450 which offer advice on the protocols and procedures These were no doubt intended to be inserted into a manuscript copy of the book. The very controversial question of whether these were copies of woodcut versions of the same compositions in blockbooks was effectively solved in 1942, when Fritz Saxl published a set of manuscript illuminations using the same compositions found in the London library of the Wellcome Institute. For the origins of the technique and non-artistic use see Woodblock printing; for the related technique invented in the 18th century see Wood engraving For the use of the technique in art see Woodcut on the technique and Old master print for the history in Europe and Woodblock printing in Japan. An illuminated manuscript is a Manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration such as decorated Initials borders and The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health These clearly predated all printed versions, all of which now can be seen to be derived from no doubt different versions of manuscript drawings in the same tradition. It has also been suggested that E. S. later designed the woodcuts for the earliest of the blockbooks, which are now seen as being created later than his engravings. For the use of the technique in art see Woodcut on the technique and Old master print for the history in Europe and Woodblock printing in Japan.
References
- Alan Shestack, Master E. S. , Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1967
- Alan Shestack; Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe, 1967, National Gallery of Art (Catalogue), LOC 67-29080
- A Hyatt Mayor, Prints and People, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Princeton, 1971, nos 118-123. ISBN 0-691-00326-2
External links
- Works of Master E. S. at Zeno. org
- Master E. S. "Large deck of playing cards"
- History of Printing
- At the Perfection of Metal Engraving
- Costume in The Early German Renaissance 1470-1520, Master E. S.
- Web gallery of art
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