Lot 1201 Nα

The Master of the Aachen Altarpiece is an anonymous master active in Cologne between 1495 and 1520. His notname derives from an altarpiece with the Passion of Christ painted around 1510 and housed in the treasury of Aachen Cathedral. The master is among the most important artists from Cologne working in the late Gothic tradition during the early 16th century, a group represented one generation previously by Anton Woensam and Barthel Bruyn.

His oeuvre is relatively small and comprises mainly of large, densely populated altarpieces. His works usually feature donor figures at the edges, such as the praying man seen here. This work is a fragment of a larger composition, as shown by the small segment of landscape in the upper left. Alongside larger compositions such as this, the Master of the Aachen altarpiece also painted small devotional works such as the impressive “Salvator Mundi” in the Wallraff-Richartz Museum in Cologne.