The technical method of the Master of the Playing Cards is that of a painter rather than of a goldsmith. There is practically no cross-hatching, and the effect is produced by a series of delicate lines, mostly vertical, laid close together. His plates are unsigned and undated, so that we can only approximate the period of his activity. That he preceded, by at least ten years, the earliest dated engraving, the _Flagellation_, by the Master of 1446, may safely be assumed, since in the manuscript copy of Conrad von Würzburg’s “The Trojan War,” transcribed in 1441 by Heinrich von Steinfurt (an ecclesiastic of Osnabrück), there are pen drawings of figures wearing costumes which correspond exactly with those in prints by the Master of the Playing Cards in his middle period. The Master of the Playing Cards is, therefore, the first bright morning star of engraving. From him there flows a stream of influence affecting substantially all of the German masters until the time of Martin Schongauer, some of whose earlier plates show unmistakable traces of an acquaintanceship with his work. [Illustration: MASTER OF THE PLAYING CARDS. ST. GEORGE Size of the original engraving, 5⅞ × 5¼ inches In the Royal Print Room, Dresden] [Illustration: MASTER OF THE PLAYING CARDS. MAN OF SORROWS Size of the original engraving, 7¾ × 5⅛ inches In the British Museum] _St. George and the Dragon_ is in his early manner. Here are plainly to be seen the characteristics of this first period--the broken, stratified rocks, the isolated and conventionalized plants, and the peculiar drawing of the horse, especially its slanting and half-human eyes. _The Playing Cards_, from which he takes his name, may safely be assigned to his middle period. The suits are made up of _Flowers_ (roses and cyclamen), _Wild Men_, _Birds_, and _Deer_, with a fifth, or alternative suit of _Lions_ and _Bears_. Like all the early German designers of playing cards, he has given free rein to his fancy and inventiveness. The position of the different emblems is varied for each numeral card; and each flower, wild man, bird, or beast, has an attitude and character of its own, no two being identical. No engraver has surpassed him in truthfulness and subtlety of observation and in the delineation of birds few artists have equalled him. His rendering of the growth and form of flowers would have delighted John Ruskin. In the _King of Cyclamen_ and the _Queen of Cyclamen_ the faces have an almost portrait-like individuality. The hands are well drawn and do not yet display that attenuation which is characteristic of nearly all fifteenth century German masters and is a noticeable feature in engravings by Martin Schongauer himself. The clothing falls in natural folds, and in the _King of Cyclamen_ the representation of fur could hardly be bettered.