Master Of The Brussels Initials

Place: Bologna

Born: 1389

Death: 1420

Biography:

The Master of the Brussels Initials (fl. c. 1390–1410), previously identified with Zebo da Firenze, was a manuscript illuminator active mainly in Paris. He brought Italian influences to French manuscript illumination and in that way played an important role in the development of the so-called International Gothic style. Decorations by the artist appear in several different works, illustrated by several different artists, and some attributions have been questioned. A corpus of works attributable to the Master of the Brussels Initials was initially identified by art historians Otto Pächt and Millard Meiss. The artist's style was inventive, bright and lively, and G. Evelyn Hutchinson has also pointed out the unusually realistic depictions of minute wildlife found in his work. At one point the bibliophile John, Duke of Berry employed the Master of the Brussels Initials. The Master of the Brussels Initials was an anonymous illuminator who began his career in the late 1300s in a prominent workshop in Bologna. His name comes from the fact that he specialized in illuminating initials, and his work is characterized by its bright colors and lively figures. He is known for his work on the Hours of Charles the Noble, a book of hours made in Paris in the early 15th century and bought by Charles III of Navarre, called 'the Noble', in 1404 or 1408. The main artist of the book was the Master of the Brussels Initials; five of the large illuminations were in addition made by the so-called Egerton Master. The artistic programme of the book is a conscious fusion of Italian and French artistic influences, and it is important in that it helped pave the way for the so-called International Gothic of the early 15th century, and later highlights of medieval book illumination such as that by the Limbourg brothers. The book is profusely decorated, its marginal decoration alone was probably the richest produced in France for almost a century. Among its many smaller decorations are for example also depictions of 180 medieval musical instruments, probably more than in any other surviving book of hours.