Master of the Mornauer Portrait

[3] The Master's oeuvre has been derived by technical and stylistic comparison with the Portrait of Alexander Mornauer, now in the National Gallery, London (oil on panel, 45.2 × 38.7 cm, inventory number NG 6532).

[1] The sitter is identified by the letter that he holds in his hand, which is addressed to him (in German):[1] Dem ehrsamen und weisen alle[x]ander Mornauer [stadt]schr[eiber]zu lanzhut m[ein]em gutren günner English translation: "To the honourable and wise Alexander Mornauer, town clerk of Landshut, my good patron"[4]Alexander Mornauer is indeed documented as a stadtschreiber (town clerk) in Landshut, Bavaria, between 1464 (when he succeeded his father, Landshut's town clerk in 1439–1464) and no later than 1488 (by which time the post was occupied by another man).

[1] The seal ring on the sitter's finger features the moor's head device, perhaps, a reference to the first syllable of Mornauer's surname.

[1][7] After the portrait was acquired by the National Gallery in 1990, scientific analysis revealed significant later alterations to the painting; the size of the hat had been reduced, and the background had been changed from wood grain to bright blue.

[10] In the 20th century, the painting has been variously attributed to Christoph Amberger, Barthel Bruyn the Elder, Michael Pacher and Jost Amman.