12 Facts About Master Theodoric

Master Theodoric is the best documented Gothic painter in Bohemia.

Master Theodoric was the favourite court painter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

Master Theodoric's masterpiece is the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Charles' newly completed Karlstejn Castle, near Prague, containing a large series of slightly over-lifesize half-length panel portraits of saints and other notable figures on a gold ground.

Master Theodoric's oeuvre is not comparable to anything in European art after the mid-14th century.

Master Theodoric's court was mentioned again in 1381, when it was sold, in a letter by Wenceslaus IV.

Master Theodoric's magnum opus is a collection of panel paintings and wall paintings that were done on the commission of Charles IV for the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlstejn.

Master Theodoric painted powerful figures in small frames, filling the viewer with the notion of monumentality.

Master Theodoric's workshop carried out the unique overall decoration of the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlstejn Castle between 1360 and 1365.

Master Theodoric's brush drawing on the heads of the paintings is delicate and firm.

Master Theodoric presumably devised the concept of the entire Chapel about 1360, establishing the composition and palette of all the paintings.

Master Theodoric's distinctive painting style can be identified in several portraits of the prophets, kings and knights that are part of the overall series.

Master Theodoric's painting is characterised by laying down of semi-lazure layers with the help of the slow-drying oil base that enabled wet-on-wet painting.