active:1450 - 1475
illuminator
Flemish

The anonymous illuminator known as the Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation was a particularly gifted follower of the popular Antwerp illuminator Lieven van Lathem. He is named after a manuscript of Pierre d'Ailly's Jardin de vertueuse consolation, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Among the works attributed to him, the Getty Museum's Livre des fais d'Alexandre le grant is considered one of his finest.

Little is known about his life; what is hypothesized is based on analysis of his artistic style and output. If the Master studied with Van Lathem, he may have lived in Bruges or Antwerp, both major artistic centers where Van Lathem was active. Working during the 1470s, the Master enjoyed the patronage of such prominent Burgundian court figures as Bruges book collector Louis de Gruuthuse. Unlike the many artists at this time who specialized in books of hours, he illuminated a variety of texts including secular, theological, and hagiographic books.