Jacob Kassai, Master Paul of Lőcse, Master MS

Madonna 7.
Mary
Master Pál
angels
birth of Jesus 2.
adoration of kings
Jacob (Jakab) Kassai

A sculptor and painter (†1463). We can conclude from his name that he was originally from Kassa, but he worked in Austria and Southern Germany. He was first mentioned in Vienna in 1429. His only authentic work was the high altar of the cathedral of Freising from 1443. He was one of the most outstanding artists of late Gothic hard style.

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Master Paul (Pál) of Lőcse (Levoča, Slovakia)

A scupltor who may have been trained in the Cracow workshop of Veit Stoss. According to an inscription on a 17th-century tombstone he carved the high altar of the St James parish church in Lőcse, made between 1508-1518. In 1515 he was the superior of the Corpus Christi Confraternity of Lőcse; in 1525, a member of the town council. He died some time before 1542. His only authentic work is the high altar of Lőcse, but a Nativity group from the parish church of Lőcse can probably be attributed to him as well.

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Master MS

A painter who worked on the high altar of the parish church of Selmecbánya (Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia), completed in 1506. Only his initials are known; written sources make no mention of him. Seven pictures have survived from the wings of the altar, which was dismantled in 1541, three from the Infancy of Christ series: The Visitation (Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest), The Nativity (Hontszentantal /Antol, Slovakia) and The Adoration of the Kings (Lille, France), and four scenes from the Passion (Christian Museum, Esztergom, Hungary). An epitaph representing The Descent from the Cross from Toruń is also attributed to him. He was the most significant painter in Hungary in the late Middle Ages.

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