Meister von Sierentz

The Master of Sierentz was a painter who is seen as a successor of the Swiss painter Konrad Witz. He is mainly known for his two paintings of Saint George stabbing the dragon and Saint Martin of Tours dividing his coat in two and sharing one half with a beggar which are assumed to have been painted between 1440 and 1450. Both works are exhibited in the Kunstmuseum Basel. The two panels were for some time assumed to have been the wings of a retable at a church in Sierentz, a locality near Basel, hence the artist's Notname "Master of Sierentz". It can't be confirmed with certainty that the retables were in Sierentz. As Martin is dividing his cape at the exit of a town, his company doesn't take notice of it. In front of Saint Martin is kneeling a beggar. Inside the town the houses are decorated with ornaments and there is seen a child riding on a hobby horse seemingly to imitate Saint Martin. The painting is on panel and has the dimensions of 144 × 111,5 cm.