Berswordt Master

( fl c. 1400-c. 1435). German painter. He is named after a Crucifixion triptych (1431; Dortmund, Marienkirche) that bears the coat of arms of the local patrician family of Berswordt and appears to have been part of an endowment made in 1431 by the family for their newly acquired chapel. An investiture document of 1437 mentions the 'newly erected altar of the Holy Cross'. The wings show Christ Carrying the Cross and the Deposition, with the Annunciation on the reverse sides. All altarpieces by the eclectic Berswordt Master reflect designs from other workshops, mainly those of Master Bertram and Conrad von Soest. These are assimilated, however, into a personal style with the usually generalized forms of his sharp-nosed protagonists showing broad, rapid brushstrokes.

Part of the Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists family

See the Abbreviations for further details.