Brunswick Monogrammist Explained

The Brunswick Monogrammist or Master of the Brunswick Monogram was an anonymous Netherlandish painter, active in the mid-to-late 16th century. He (or she) painted religious scenes but also several scenes of secular merriment, including brothel and tavern scenes, and has been called "the most significant precursor of Pieter Bruegel the Elder".[1]

Identity

The monogram for which the Brunswick Monogrammist is named appears only once, on his (or her) Parable of the Great Supper in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Brunswick. It is composed of the interlocked letters J, V, A, M, S and L,[2] and neither it nor careful analysis of his work have yielded consensus about his identity. His (or her, as Verhulst was female) paintings have been attributed to a number of painters, including Jan van Hemessen, Mayken Verhulst and Jan van Amstel.[3] [4]

Partial list of works

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.staedelmuseum.de/sm/index.php?StoryID=112&ObjectID=170 Braunschweiger Monogrammist, Bordellszene
  2. Elise L. Smith. "Brunswick Monogrammist" Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 12/4/07, http://www.groveart.com/
  3. Collection: Dr. Herbert & Monika Schaefer: Selected Works. New Haven: Mountain View Press. 1998. 32.
  4. Bloch, Vitale. "A Luteplayer by Jan van Hemessen" The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 98, No. 645. (Dec., 1956), pp. 445–447.
  5. Collection: Dr. Herbert & Monika Schaefer: Selected Works. New Haven: Mountain View Press. 1998.