MASTER of Moulins
(active 1480-1500)

Biography

French painter, named after a triprych in Moulins Cathedral representing the Madonna with Saints and Donors and datable c. 1498. The style of this work is quite distinctive, and has enabled a considerable oeuvre to be built up around it. The Master of Moulins' sculptural precision of form (recalling Fouquet), the poise of his individual figures, his brilliant palette, the harmony of his compositions, and his taste for splendid and meticulous details make him one of the outstanding painters of his period in northern Europe. Various attempts have been made to identify the Master of Moulins with named artists (for example Jean Perréal and Jean Hey), but none has met with general acceptance.