Collective terms for artists who have not been identified with a documented, named individual, but whose oeuvre has been recognized by art historians (for discussion of anonymous Greek vase painters see VASE PAINTERS, §II). The various sources from which their identifying names have been derived is reflected in the subdivision of the following article.
Anonymous masters (§I) covers those artists whose association with, for example, a particular work, place or patron, or stylistic and iconographic characteristic has led art historians to refer to them by a descriptive name. These are listed alphabetically by the identifying part of the name, ignoring the preliminary ‘Master’ and intervening prepositions and articles. (Anonymous masters should not be confused with named artists with the prefixed title ‘Master’ and no surname, as in Master Bertram; for entries of the latter type see under the artist’s given name elsewhere in the dictionary.) Dated anonymous masters (§II), who are most usually named from the date of the sample work, are entered chronologically. Anonymous monogrammists (§III) are listed alphabetically by the initials of the monograms that appear on their work.
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