The Master of the Soft Style In the twilight of the fourteenth century, a transformative artistic energy began to pulse through the prosperous Hanseatic city of Dortmund, finding its most profound expression in the hands of Conrad von Soest. Born around 1370, von Soest emerged not merely as a local painter but as the preeminent Westphalian master of his era. He was the architect of what art historians call the International Gothic or the "soft style," a movement characterized by an exquisite elegance, fluid lines, and a courtly grace that sought to elevate religious narrative into something…