Flemish painter. Name given by Friedländer to a painter of portraits bearing dates falling between 1541 and 1551. About thirty portraits dating to that decade have been ascribed to him. The identity of one of the sitters, Gillis van Schoonbeke, guardian of the Antwerp hospital, suggests that the artist was active in Antwerp. Compared with such painters as Anthonis Mor and Willem Key, the Master of the 1540s was probably a rather modest artist patronized by the upper middle classes. However, his works demonstrate great ability and considerable cultivation. //