Master of the Female Half-Lengths
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The Master of the Female Half-Lengths (sometimes referred to as Master of the Half-Lengths)[1] is the notname given to a painter, or more likely a group of painters of a workshop, active in the Low Countries in the early sixteenth century. The name was given in the 19th century to identify the maker or makers of a body of work consisting of 67 paintings to which since 40 more have been added.[2] The Master created female figures in genre scenes, small religious and mythological works, landscapes and portraits.[1]
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The works attributed to the Master of the Female Half-Lengths were apparently the product of a large workshop that specialized in small-scale panels depicting aristocratic young ladies at half-length. The ladies are shown engaging in various activities such as reading, writing, or playing musical instruments.[2] The women all share the same heart-shaped face and gentle demeanor.[1] The expressions of the female figures are characterised by their sweetness and grace. The Master clearly expressed the high artistic and moral humanistic values of the Northern Renaissance in these works .[3] The figures are typically placed in a wood-panelled interior or against a neutral background. Some of the women are represented with an ointment jar, the attribute of Mary Magdalene.[2]
A few paintings of mythological subjects and copies of standardized compositions such as the Crucifixion, the Deposition, the Virgin of Sorrows, St Jerome and Lucretia are also attributed to the Master.[2] These religious paintings are characterised by the prominence of the landscape settings and the small figures. The workshop nature of the production of these paintings as shown in the repetition of motifs and compositions and the lack of indications of their patronage or destination point, a production aimed mainly at the open market and export.[1] A few portrait paintings have also been attributed to the artist.
