In art history , a Notname ( German: [ˈnoːtˌnaːmə] , "necessity-name" or "contingency-name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled, or generically titled works, an acceptable if unsatisfactory grouping, avoiding confusion when cataloging.
17-467: The Naumburg Master (a notname ; German : Naumburger Meister or Meister von Naumburg ) was an anonymous medieval stone sculptor. His works date to the middle of the 13th century, were executed over a career of more than thirty years, and are counted among the most important artworks of the European Middle Ages . The Naumburg Master very likely learned his craft in northern France in
34-530: A lack of caution in connecting works with historical persons, and that such connections often hang on thin threads of circumstantial evidence. The identities of a number of well-known artists have been founded on the basis of a single signed, documented or otherwise attributed work, with similar works sharing close style or within a geographical range also attached to that name. Examples include Hugo van der Goes , Robert Campin , Stefan Lochner and Simon Marmion . Master of Sierentz The Master of Sierentz
51-433: Is Saint Georg slaying a dragon with a sword. Behind in the next level in the painting there are two smaller dragons one of them threatening a man laying near the rocks in between bones of skeletons. Again a level behind there is depicted the praying and kneeling princess before a parish , who according to the legend, was promised as a sacrifice to the dragon. Beside her there is a lamb in the grass. Through all levels there
68-442: Is a bright green color which darkens slowly, turning into blue with the further levels of the painting towards the horizon in the distance, mainly beginning at the shores of the water. On a hill in the background there is a castle and at every level towards the horizon on the painting, the dimensions of the figures become smaller. The painting is on panel and has the dimensions of 144 × 110,5 cm. In this painting Saint Martin
85-403: Is seen riding on a horse and accompanied by a man riding on a horse in front of him. As Martin is dividing his cape at the exit of a town, his company doesn't take notice of it. In front of Saint Martin is kneeling a beggar. Inside the town the houses are decorated with ornaments and there is seen a child riding on a hobby horse seemingly to imitate Saint Martin. The painting is on panel and has
102-504: The Via Regia to the episcopal see of Naumburg , where the rebuilding of Naumburg Cathedral had started around 1210 and the Gothic west choir was added from about 1245–1250. Construction was likely finished by 1257, including the twelve monumental donor portraits that are considered his masterpieces, and it is from thence that his notname derives. Made of Grillenburg Sandstone , some of
119-993: The Master of the Life of the Virgin (active c. 1463 to c. 1490) and the Master of the Legend of the Magdalen (active c. 1483 – c. 1527) both named after scenes from the Life of the Virgin attributed to them, the Master of the Prado Adoration of the Magi (active c. 1475 – 1500) named after his most famous panel, and the Vienna Master of Mary of Burgundy (c. 1470 – c. 1480), named after a manuscript owned by one of his patrons. The Berlin Painter (active c. 490s – c. 460s BCE)
136-484: The artist's location, the most distinctive feature of their work, or the theme or iconographic element they are best associated with. Some notnames are created based on a single artwork, called namepiece . Examples include the Master of the Embroidered Foliage (active c. 1480 to c. 1510) so named after his distinctive way of painting grass and trees, the Master of Sierentz whose activity is dated c. 1440 – 1450,
153-674: The founder figures in Meissen Cathedral and of the tomb slab of one knight Hermann von Hagen , the relative of a Naumburg canon , in Merseburg Cathedral . His art shaped the work of numerous masons all over Central Germany . He was thus a decisive conveyor and pioneer of the ground-breaking innovations in architecture and sculpture of the late Hohenstaufen period in the 13th century. Notname The phrases provisional name , name of convenience and emergency names are sometimes used to describe anonymous masters; nonce name
170-573: The heyday of the High Gothic style. He was active in the towns of Noyon , Amiens , and Reims around 1225, and later possibly came to Metz in the Holy Roman Empire . Around 1230 he worked on Mainz Cathedral , where he created the fragmentary rood screen , including a sandstone relief of Saint Martin that became known as the Bassenheim Horseman. Afterwards he traveled east along
187-449: The inventories of collectors were uninterested in the artist's names. Many of the unidentified late 14th and early 15th-century northern artists were of the first rank, but because they have not been attached to any historical person, have suffered from academic neglect. It is probably a truism to say that, as Susie Nash put it, "much of what cannot be firmly attributed remains less studied". Some art historians believe that this has led to
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#1732855298948204-456: The name of that individual is lost. Groupings of works under a given notname can often be contentious; in specific cases art historians have argued that the reality may be a group or school of artists working under a common influence or commercial demand. Linking a generically titled old master with a historical person is usually a tempting and exciting prospect, and would establish an art historian's reputation. The given notname usually depends on
221-457: The sculptures are identified by name while others could not be assigned with certainty. The portraits of the main benefactors Margrave Eckard II of Meissen and his consort Uta von Ballenstedt as well as Margrave Herman I and his spouse Regelinda stand on both sides of the choir entrance. Considering his characteristic style, the Naumburg Master is also identified as the creator of
238-508: The wings of a retable at a church in Sierentz , a locality near Basel , hence the artists Notname "Master of Sierentz". But today, it can't be confirmed with certainty that the retables have stayed in Sierentz. The Master of Sierentz is not to be confused with the Master von 1445 [ de ] , who was initially seen as the painter of the two panels. The centre piece of the painting
255-520: Was a painter who is seen as a successor of the Swiss painter Konrad Witz . He is mainly known for his two paintings of Saint Georg stabbing the dragon and Saint Martin of Tours dividing his coat in two sharing one half with a beggar which are assumed to have been painted between 1440 and 1450. Both works are exhibited in the Kunstmuseum Basel . The two panels were for some time assumed to have been
272-634: Was at one time used. The practice of using generic names for unidentified artists is most common in the study of art of the antiquity, especially of the Roman era, and with artists of the Northern Renaissance until about 1430. Typically a pseudonym is applied after commonality is established for a grouping of works, of which a similarity of theme, style, iconography , biblical source or physical location can probably be attributed to one individual or workshop, but because of lack of surviving documentary record,
289-530: Was named by Sir John Beazley for a large lidded amphora in the Antikensammlung Berlin , the Berlin Painter's namepiece . In the case of 14th and early 15th-century Netherlandish , French and German painters and illuminators, the problem is particularly acute and stems from a number of factors. Primarily, the practice of signing and dating works is rarely seen in the region until the 1420s, and
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