In art history, an anonymous master is an Old Master whose work is known, but whose name is lost.
Renaissance
Only in the Renaissance did individual artists in Western Europe acquire personalities known by their peers (some listed by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists), such as those known by: Their true name or their father's name: Filippino Lippi after his father Fra Filippo Lippi A chosen pseudonym, possibly linked to his birthplace or his father's trade: Giuliano da Sangallo worked on the gate of Saint Gall Antonio del Pollaiuolo, after his father, a chicken farmer (pollo in Italian) Jacopo del Sellaio, after his father, a saddler (sellier) The Della Robbias (after the Tuscan word robbia, dyers' madder, and his father, the dyer Luca della Robbia) Masuccio Segondo, student of Masuccio Primo etc. A surname attributed to him: Il Cronaca, who never stopped talking about the ruins he had seen in Rome Daniele da Volterra, nicknamed Il Braghettone (the breeches maker) for having censored nudes in paintings by adding cloths or branches, at the request of Pope Paul IV Luca della Robbia, for the madder colour he used as a ceramicist Masaccio, known as the idiot etc. A corporation, whose generic name is given to works made by all its members: the Campionesi Masters, sculptors and builders of religious buildings (Ugo da Campione, Bonino da Campione, Giovanni da Campione, Zenone de Campione, Matteo da Campione)
20th-century problems of attribution
The idea of a named and recognised painter originated among art historians early in the 20th century, who were attributing works they recognised to known painters. They later went back on some of these attributions, renaming as anonymous the painters they had formerly named. One example is the case of Pier Francesco Fiorentino, to whom Bernard Berenson attributed a number of works which were later re-attributed to Pseudo Pier Francesco Fiorentino, a Florence copyist. Some painters have even been described as anonymous (even many times like Barthélemy Eyck) before later being recognised. They thus held several names historically (those who are noted on the page devoted to them), although doubts continue surrounding some, such as Giovanni Gaddi (after 1333 – 1383) maybe the Master of the Misericordia dell’Accademia.
Artists
Dates
Master of 1302
Master of 1310
Master of 1328
Master of 1342
Master of 1499
Master of the 1540s
A
Master of Alkmaar
Master of Ambrass
Master of Amiens
Master of the Antiphonal Q of San Giorgio Maggiore
Master of Antoine de Bourgogne
Master of Arguis
Master of Ávila
Master of the Altarpiece of the Ten Commandments
Master of the Aquisgrana Altarpiece
Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds
Master of Astorga
Master of the Assisi Choirbooks
B
Master of Badia a Isola
Master of the Bamberg Altar
Master of the Bardi Saint Francis
Becerril Master
Bedford Master
Master of the Beighem Altarpiece
Master of the Berswordt Altar
First Master of the Bible Historiale of Jean de Berry
Bigallo Master
Master of the Blue Crucifixes
Master of the Brunswick Diptych
Brunswick Monogrammist
Master of the Brussels Initials
Byzantine Master of the Crucifix of Pisa
Master of the Bützow Altarpiece
C
City of Ladies Master and his studio of illuminators of The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pisan Master of Cabestany Master of the Cappella di San Nicola Master of the Cappella Medici Polyptych Master of the Cassone degli Adimari, probably Lo Scheggia, brother of Masaccio Master of the Cassoni Campana, builder of cassone Master of Crea Campionesi Masters Master of Castelsardo Master of Castelseprio, fresco painter at Santa Maria Foris Portas at Castelseprio, in the province of Varese. Master of the Castello della Manta Chief Associate of the Bedford Master
D
Dipylon Master
Master of the Darmstädter Passion
Master of the Darup Altarpiece
Master of Delft
Masters of Dirc van Delf
Master of the Death of the Virgin (engraver) Master of the Death of the Virgin (painter) Master of the Drapery Studies (also known as Master of the Coburg Roundels)
E
Elmelunde Master
Master of the Embroidered Foliage
Master E. S. Expressionist Master of Santa Chiara
