Master of the 1540s
The Master of the 1540s was a South Netherlandish painter active between 1541 and 1551. About thirty portraits dating to that decade have been ascribed to him; the identity of one of the sitters, Gillis van Shoonbeke, indicates that the artist was
active in that city. His clientele appears to have been more modest than that patronized by Antonis Mor and Willem Key, but his paintings display considerable talent and cultivation.
