View source for Master of the Playing Cards

The '''Master of the Playing Cards''' was the first major master in the history of [[printmaking]].

== Biography ==

He was a German (or conceivably Swiss) [[engraver]], and probably also a [[painter]], active in southwestern Germany from the 1430s to the 1450s, who has been called "the first personality in the history of engraving."

Various attempts to identify him have not been generally accepted, so he remains known only through his 106 engravings, which include the set of [[playing cards]] in five suits from which he takes his name.

The majority of the set survives in unique impressions, most of which are in the [[Kupferstichkabinett]], Dresden and the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] in Paris.

A further eighty-eight engravings are regarded as sufficiently close to his style to be by his pupils.

== See also ==

* [[Engraving]]
* [[Playing cards]]
* [[Printmaking]]

== External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Playing_Cards Master of the Playing Cards] @ Wikipedia

[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Engravers]]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Painters]]