Master of the Playing Cards

"[1] Various attempts to identify him have not been generally accepted, so he remains known only through his 106 engravings, which include the set of playing cards in five suits from which he takes his name.

The majority of the set survives in unique impressions, most of which are in the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.

[2] It has long been recognised that the Master's style was closely related to that of paintings from south-western Germany and Switzerland in the period 1430–1450, by artists of whom the best known is Konrad Witz.

[1] It is generally thought that both sets derive from a common manuscript model-book of the sort painters are known to have maintained, though this does not rule out his involvement, or that of his workshop, in the painting.

[5] Despite this, the majority of the pips are unique, and although they appear rather jumbled as groups, when looked at individually it is apparent that many are very fine studies of their subjects.

[8] After him came a series of other significant engravers who had trained as either an artist or a goldsmith, and after woodcuts became widely used for illustrating printed books, their quality also improved.

The Master's other works are mostly religious and some are relatively large for very early engravings; these were intended mainly for insertion as illustrations into manuscript devotional books.