Theodoric, of Prague, active 1343-1381

Master Theodoric, in Latin Magister Theodoricus (before 1328? – before 3 March 1381; active c. 1360 – c. 1380), was a Czech painter. He is the best-documented Gothic painter in Bohemia. He was the favourite court painter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and the first Bohemian painter whose name can be linked to a body of work. Theodoric is considered the chief representative of the phase of International Gothic known as the "Soft style". His masterpiece is the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Charles's newly completed Karlštejn 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. The whole decoration of the chapel was commissioned in 1359 and completed over a number of years. The decoration of the Chapel of the Holy Cross was unique and unprecedented north of the Alps. Theodoric's oeuvre is not comparable to anything in European art after the mid-14th century (1360s).