Michael Sittow ( 1469 – 1525), also known as Master Michiel, Michel Sittow, Michiel, Miguel, and several other variants, was a painter from Reval (Tallinn), Estonia who was trained in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. For most of his life, Sittow worked as a court portrait painter, for Isabella of Castile, the Habsburgs, and other prominent royal houses in Spain and the Netherlands. He is considered one of the most important Flemish painters of the era. Life Michael Sittow was born in 1468 or 1469 in the Hanseatic city of Reval (in medieval Livonia, now Estonia) to a wealthy family. His father was a painter and wood-carver Clawes (Claves, Claes) Sittow (also van der Sittow, or Suttow) and his mother was Margarethe Mölner. He was the eldest of three brothers, followed by Clawes and Jasper. The origins of Sittow's father, Clawes (van der) Sittow, are not clear — his patrilinear ancestors may have arrived in Estonia from the village of Zittow near Wismar, Germany; it has also been suggested that he may have been either of local Estonian, German, or even Flemish origin to begin with. It is known that Clawes settled in the Hanseatic city of Reval in 1454, and became its citizen in 1457. Sittow's father was apparently a wealthy man for an artist, owning several houses in the city, and becoming an assessor in the artists' guild of Reval in 1479. Clawes Sittow married Margarethe Mölner in 1468. Sittow's mother was a Swedish-speaker and daughter of a wealthy merchant Olef Mölner (Olef Andersson Mölnare) from Finland. At first Michael Sittow studied painting and sculpture in his father's workshop, while attending the city school to learn Latin, arithmetic and singing. After his father's death in 1482, Michel continued his studies in Brügge (now Bruges, Belgium) from 1484 to 1488. It is thought that he worked as an apprentice in the leading Netherlandish workshop of Hans Memling. Michael Sittow became an independent master between 14881491/92, although he did not become a master in the local Bruges guild. Working as a portrait painter, he travelled in southern Europe, as traits of French and Italian art became apparent in his work. From 1492 Sittow worked in Toledo, Spain for Isabella of Castile as court painter. Isabella assembled academicians and painters from several countries to her court. Sittow became known as Melchior Alemán ("the German") in the court, although letters of