Master of the Sterzing Altarpiece
German, active 1450s
BiographyThe artist known as the Master of the Sterzing Altarpiece was active in Ulm, Germany, in the 1450s and later. He seems to have worked in the workshop or immediate circle of the sculptor Hans Multscher (1400-ca. 1467). The Sterzing Master's artistic identity is based on two painted altarpiece wings representing scenes from the life of Mary and the Passion of Christ, dating from about 1456-58 (now Vipiteno [Sterzing], Museo Multscher). The wings were originally part of a carved altarpiece commissioned of Multscher by the Pfarrkirche in Sterzing (now Vipiteno, Unsere Liben Frau im Moos) and installed there in 1458/9. The Sterzing Master was influenced not only by Multscher, but also by Netherlandish painting, especially that of Rogier van der Weyden (ca. 1399-1464). The latter influence is manifested in his elongated figures and facial types, and his distinctive representation of landscape and interior spaces. The Sterzing Master's works are characterized by clear, monumental forms, a sense of movement in the compositions, and a wealth of detail skillfully integrated into the whole.