Saint Lucretia

Saint Lucretia (1515 - 1530) - oil on panel, 65,5 x 50 cm

It is a high-quality oil painting on wood from the early sixteenth century, which is attributed to the so-called Master of Female Half-Figures. The following text is based on the source wikipedia.org. The master of female half-figures is a modern designation for a today unknown painter or rather a painter's workshop active in the 16th century. The name first appeared in the 19th century to identify the author of a work that included 67 paintings, since then more than 40 other works have been attributed to him.

Characteristics of works: The entire work is apparently the product of a large painting workshop that specialized in smaller half-figure paintings of young aristocratic ladies. The ladies are engaged in various activities, such as reading, writing or playing musical instruments, and are usually placed in a wood-paneled interior or against a neutral background. Some women are depicted with an ointment container, an attribute of Mary Magdalene. The master of female half-figures is also credited with several paintings on mythological themes and imitations of established compositions, e.g. Crucifixion, Entombment, Mary of Sorrows, St. Jerome and St. Lucretia.

Author's identity: There is no consensus about the identity of the Master, the place of his work or the period of his creation. The cities of Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen, but also the French court were selected as places where the workshop could operate. He could have created at the beginning, as well as at the end of the 16th century, but it is more often assumed that he created at the beginning of the 16th century. Some art historians argue that the Master must have worked in Antwerp or Mechelen in the 1620s and 1630s, as his landscapes are similar to those of Joachim Patinir and the female figures resemble the works of Bernard van Orley. Other authors, however, have observed a similarity between the work of the Master and the artists from Bruges, Ambrosius Benson and Adriaen Isenbrant. source: wikipedia.org