Master of Saint Giles

The Master of Saint Giles (French: Maître de Saint-Gilles) was a Franco-Flemish painter active, probably in Paris, about 1500, working in a delicate Late Gothic manner, with rendering of textures and light and faithful depictions of actual interiors that show his affinities with Netherlandish painting.

It is not clear whether the Master of Saint Giles was a French painter who trained in the Low Countries (perhaps more likely), or a Netherlander who emigrated to France.

His pseudonym was given him by Max Friedländer, who reconstructed part of the anonymous painter's oeuvre, starting from two panels devoted to Saint Giles (a Miracle and a Mass) in the National Gallery, London, that were part of the lefthand shutter of an altarpiece, and two further panels now in Washington from the same altarpiece.

The original location of the altarpiece has not yet been confirmed, although the choice of three scenes including Frankish Kings, and the very specific settings of scenes in the Abbey of Saint-Denis (Mass of Saint Giles, London), where the Kings of France were crowned, the royal Chapel of Sainte-Chapelle (Baptism of Clovis), and outside the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris (Episodes), suggest a commission very close to the crown, perhaps the cover for the high altar at Saint-Denis.

[1] The unidentified bishop-saint stands on the steps of the now vanished church of Saint-Jean-le-Rond, next door to Notre-Dame, the main entrance to which can be seen behind to the left.