Master of the Von Groote Adoration

The Master of the Von Groote Adoration is a notname given to an artist or a number of artists or various workshops active in Antwerp sometime between 1500 and 1520. Whereas there are significant variations in the style of the works attributed to the master, the repetitions of certain subjects played an important role in the composition of the oeuvre. The master is considered a representative of the group of Antwerp mannerists who created works in an extravagant style in the early sixteenth century.

Naming

The master belonged to the group of Antwerp mannerists who got their notname from the art historian Max Jakob Friedländer when in 1915 he made an attempt to classify and attribute paintings that he deemed wrongly attributed to Herri met de Bles to a master or a workshop. The Master of the von Groote worship was the name given to the C group to which were assigned 19 works, of which 11 paintings 8 painted copies that fall stylistically outside the group.

The main work was a depiction of the Adoration of the Magi, then in the collection of Freiherr von Groote and now in the Städel Museum.

The style differences within the original group are significant, but the number of repetitions of the same theme, in particular that of the Adoration of the Magi was important when putting the group together.

Style characteristics

The Master of the Von Groote Adoration is considered a representative of Antwerp Mannerism. The term Antwerp Mannerism was coined by Friedländer in the early 20th century to refer to a transitory phase in Netherlandish art from the late Gothic to works inspired by the Italian Renaissance. The terms "Manier" and "Manierist" were used by Friedländer to refer to the original even unusual motifs in the body of work categorized under this style. The terms carried a pejorative connotation as these works were regarded as inferior to work produced by Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Quentin Matsys and other contemporaries. The style of these works was often extravagant. This was reflected in how the folds of the flamboyant and exotic clothes worn by the figures defied gravity.

These figures were usually depicted in agitated poses amidst architectural ruins. The earlier works included Gothic architecture but in later works Renaissance structures became prevalent. Most of the artists of Antwerp Mannerism have remained anonymous and only some of the artists have been identified.