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 (guardian of the hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 in Antwerp), 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

Willem Key

Willem Key was a Flemish renaissance painter.-Biography:According to van Mander he learned painting together with Frans Floris from Lambert Lombardus in Liège. He became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1540. He was a rich man who lived in a large house in the center of town near...

, but his paintings display considerable talent and cultivation.