Stefan Lochner (Lochner Stephan)

(ca. 1410-1451)
Born probably in Mersburge on Lake Constance ca. 1410. According to extant documents, in 1442 he lived in Cologne. The attribution of works of the master was made possible by writing in his diary Durer, which reported that they visited on the way to the Netherlands, Cologne, he saw an altar in the cathedral, written by 'a master Stephen'.
Lochner regarded historians and art historians as the chief master of the Cologne school. For the artists of this school is characterized by lyricism and softness in the interpretation of images of the Holy Scriptures. Tracks Lochner distinguished by the simplicity and clarity. The most significant of his work is the altar of the Cologne Cathedral - The Adoration of the Magi. Among his other works: The Virgin in the arbor of roses (1440-ies, Cologne, from the Wallraf-Richartz Museum Ludwig) and to offer in the Temple (1447, Darmstadt, Hesse Museum). Lochner died in Cologne in 1451.