The Master of the Schöppingen Altarpiece was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 artist active in the area around Münster

Münster

Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

 between 1445 and 1470. It appears likely that he studied in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and was influenced by the work of Robert Campin

Robert Campin

Robert Campin , now usually identified as the artist known as the Master of Flémalle, is usually considered the first great master of Early Netherlandish painting...

 and Rogier van der Weyden. His name is derived from an altarpiece, dated to about 1470, that hangs in the parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of Schöppingen

Schöppingen

Schöppingen is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approx. 10 km south-west of Steinfurt....

. At the center of the painting is a depiction of the Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

, along with four scenes from the Passion

Passion (Christianity)

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...

, which have been integrated into the background landscape

Landscape

Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...

. On the interior of the wings are eight more Passion scenes, while on their exterior are representations of the Annunciation

Annunciation

The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...

 and the Nativity

Nativity of Jesus in art

The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century. The artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, are based on the narratives in the Bible, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and further elaborated by written, oral and...

. Of these, the former appears to have been derived from the Altarpiece of Saint Barbara painted by Campin, while the latter is an original composition.

Other works ascribed to the Master's hand include an altarpiece at Haldern, today held in the Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History

Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History

The Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History is an arts and cultural museum in Münster, Germany-External links:*...

, as is a panel from a now-disbanded altarpiece depicting Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

 and the Fathers of the Church. Also believed to be by him are a mural fragment in the Münster cathedral and an altarpiece, dated to before 1470, that stood in the Wiesenkirche of Soest

Soest, Germany

Soest is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district. After Lippstadt, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.-Geography:...

before its destruction in 1945.