Medium: Antique hand pulled copper plate etching on laid paper after the original by master engraver Amand Durand (1831- 1905).
Signature: Signed in the plate, lower right.
Dimensions: Image size 4 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches.
Framed Dimensions: Approximately 14 x 16 inches.
Framing: This piece has been professionally matted and framed using all new materials.
Master M.S. was a 16th-century painter who specialized in late Gothic art and in early Renaissance art. Since his true name is unknown, he is sometimes identified with various other Gothic “masters”. German art historians generally identify him with J. Brieu, a painter from Augsburg. Also some art historians identify him with Master M.Z.(also mentioned as Matthäus Zaisinger(1498–1555)) a German engraver and goldsmith from Munich. According to the new research the anonym master is very likely to have been a Hungarian painter called Sebestyén, whose name is mentioned in the charter of Banská Å tiavnica in 1507. His art combining dramatic depth and colourful decorative formation is akin to that of the German painters Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, J. Brieu and mainly Mathias Grünewald.