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Old Masters Figurative Paintings

OLD MASTERS

Encompassing centuries of change in Europe between 1300 and 1800, from booms of prosperity to bloody revolutions, Old Masters describes a wide range of artists. The informal term was derived from the title of an artist who trained in a guild long enough to become a master, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who studied in a Florence painters’ guild. However, Old Masters paintings, prints and other art is now used to refer to work made by any artist with a high level of skill in painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking who worked during this era.

The 15th century’s expansive trade and commerce spread culture across borders. A vibrant period of art emerged, bolstered by studies of anatomy and nature that influenced a new visual realism. From Raphael and Michelangelo in the Renaissance to Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer in the Dutch Golden Age, artists expressed emotion, naturalism, color and light in new ways. El Greco and Paolo Veronese were leaders in the dramatic style of Mannerism, while Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens demonstrated the movement and meticulous detail of Baroque art.

Historically, most attention was concentrated on male artists, but recent research and exhibitions have elevated the impactful work of women such as Rachel Ruysch and Artemisia Gentileschi. In late-18th-century France, female artists like Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun were prominent names. Nevertheless, access to the academies and guilds was highly restricted for women, and even those able to establish practices were expected to adhere to portraits and still lifes rather than the grand history paintings being created by men.

Find a collection of Old Masters prints, paintings, drawings and watercolors and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Old Masters
19th CENTURY FRENCH ANTIQUE OIL ON PANEL - FRENCH SOLDIERS MAKING CAMP
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, 19th century Title: The Soldiers Camp Medium: oil painting on thick wooden panel, with a bevel edge Size: painting: 12.5 x 22 inches, frame: 16.5 ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

18th Century by Antonio Mercurio Amorosi Portrait Little Girl with Cat
By Antonio Mercurio Amorosi
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Antonio Mercurio Amorosi (Comunanza 1660 - 1738) Portrait of a little girl with cat Oil on canvas, cm. 42 x 31.5 – with frame cm. 56 x 44 Shaped, carved and gilded wooden cassetta fr...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Virgin with Child - Painting by Theodor Mathon - 17th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Virgin Mary and Jesus is an original old masters' artwork realized by the Flemish painter Theodor Mathon (1606-1676) in the 17th century. Mixed ...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Lady Caroline Price
Located in Miami, FL
DESCRIPTION: Perhaps the best Romney in private hands. If Vogue Magazine existed in the late 18th century, this image of Lady Caroline Price would be ...
Category

1970s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Peasants in a Cornfield (Boer in het veld) by David Teniers the Younger
Located in Stockholm, SE
Remembering the magic of everyday life moments in the art of David Teniers: The art of David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690) coincided with the heyday of the Flemish Baroque and captured a great variety of motifs of his time. In this painting of a seemingly simple peasant scene lies keys to understanding both the imaginative mind of Teniers as well as why this time period produced some of the most iconic works in all of art history.  As indicated by the name, Teniers was more or less born into his profession. As the son of David Teniers the elder, himself a painter who studied under Rubens, the younger David received training in art from a very young age and had no less than three brothers who also became painters. Because of his father’s frequent financial failures that even at times saw him imprisoned, David the younger helped to rescue the family from ruin through painting copies of old masters. Essentially, the young Teniers was confronted with painting as both a passion and creative expression as well as a necessity during difficult times, an experience that would shape much of his capacity and sensitivity in his coming life. Despite the hardships, the talent and determination of Teniers was recognized and quickly expanded his possibilities. He had already spent time in France and possibly also England when he was hired by his father’s former teacher Rubens to help with a prestigious commission with mythological paintings, now considered lost, for Philip IV the king Spain. In 1644–54 Teniers was appointed dean of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke, manifesting his esteemed position within the artistic community. A few years afterwards he took an important step when relocating to Brussels, where Teniers yet again found new career opportunities that would prove to be very successful. As the keeper of the collections of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, a role similar to what we now refer to as an art advisor, Teniers purchased hundreds of important artworks that manifested the prominent status of the Archduke’s collection while at the same time providing an unusual access to inspiration and knowledge for Teniers himself. Since he kept on painting during the same time, his creative scope must have seemed almost bewildering in the great variety of images and stories that he surrounded himself with.  Regardless of how glamorous and culturally stimulating the career of Teniers was, he was as open to the charm and existential importance of everyday life as he was to works of great masters and luxurious collectibles. In his impressive repertoire of genres with everything from exquisite royal portraits, interiors, landscapes and history paintings he always added something new and inventive, highlighting the possibilities of art and importance of an experimental and intuitive mind. It is difficult to single out one aspect or genre to summarize his legacy, since it lies much more in the broad virtuosity across many motifs, although he is particularly remembered for farm scenes and meticulously depicted interiors where other paintings and artworks are captured with an astonishing precision. However, the fact that he is still today one of the most known and celebrated names of the Dutch Golden Age is a proof to the magic of his work, which continues to spark dialogue and wonder in the contemporary viewer of his works. The farm boy in the field in this painting, which likely dates to the mature part of his career, is a wonderful entry into the mind of Teniers. In the tightly cropped motif, we see him standing right in the middle of the busy harvest when men, women and everyone capable were sent out in the field to collect the crop that formed the very core of their diet and survival. In the background we see a fresh blue sky interspersed with skillfully painted clouds, some trees reaching their autumnal colours and in the far distance the glimpse of a small church and village. The presence of a church in a landscape, so typical of Dutch art, served both a symbolic and visual function as a representation of faith while at the same time defining scale and distance. In the field, the work is in full action with the farmers spread out in various positions, all in the midst of hard and sweaty labour. While they are portrayed as having nothing else than the work on their mind, our farm boy seems to have his attention directed elsewhere. Standing there with his white, half open shirt, flowy curls and strong, sturdy body; his gaze is directed away, out of the picture and the scythes in his hands. He looks almost smirking, expressed with tremendous subtlety in the slight smile of his lips and big eyes, being just in the middle of losing focus on the work. What is it that steals his attention? What has he seen, or realized, or felt – to break him free of the arduous task of harvesting, if but for a moment? Here starts the wondering and the questions that are the hallmark of a great piece of art. Instead of explicitly locking in the motif in overly clear symbolism Teniers has chosen an open ended, subtle yet striking moment for us to consider. While it of course can be related to numerous other farm scene depictions of this time, and clever usages of gazes and real-life scenes to underscore various moral or symbolic meanings, the painting can be much more of a contemplation than an explanation or illustration. The ordinary nature and understated yet emotionally textured composition of the motif gives greater space for our own reactions and thoughts. Has he seen a pretty farm girl just passing by? Is he fed up with the farm life, joyously dreaming away for a minute, imagining another future? Or is he simply in need of distraction, looking away and ready for anything that can steal his attention? One quality that never seem to have escaped Teniers was that of curiosity. During all of his career he constantly investigated, expanded and experimented with not only the style and technique of painting, but with the vision of art itself. Being credited with more or less introducing farm motifs for a broader audience not only tells us of his ability to understand the demand for different motifs, but the sensitivity to transform seemingly ordinary parts of life into deep aesthetic experiences, far beyond their expected reach. The farm boy in this painting is, of course, exactly that. But with the help of one smirk the entire picture is charged with a different energy, awakening many contrasts and relationships between the calm landscape, the hard work and his own breach of effectivity, holding sharp scythes while thinking or seeing something else. It is no wonder Teniers chose to work with farm scenes as a way of investigating these intricate and delicate plays on expectations and surprises, clarity and ambivalence. It invites us to an appreciation of human everyday life that connects us with the people of 17th century...
Category

Late 17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

17th century European oil, Christ and his disciples seated around a table.
Located in Woodbury, CT
17th century European oil, Christ and is disciples seated around a table. An interesting and very unique painting. Possibly a fragment originally from a piece of furniture. The s...
Category

1650s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Oil

17th Century by Juan Alfonso Abril Head of St Paul Painting Oil on Canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Juan Alfonso Abril (active in the 17th century in Valladolid) Head of Saint Paul Oil on canvas, cm. 48,5 x 62 - with frame cm. 63 x 76,5 Shaped wooden f...
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Early 17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lady Dormore - A 16th Century Portrait of a key member of Shakespeare's England
Located in London, GB
Lady Dormer, Mary Browne c. 1592 oil on panel 35 x 29 inches, unframed; 41 x 34.75 inches, inc. frame Inscribed 'Lady Dormore' Mary married Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton who gave birth to Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton - one of the great figures in Shakespears"s circle and founder of the Virginia company, developers of Virginia USA. Henry Wriothesley, born 6 October 1573 at Cowdray House, Sussex, was the only son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, by Mary Browne, the only daughter of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague, and his first wife, Jane Radcliffe.[5] He had two sisters, Jane, who died before 1573, and Mary (c. 1567 – 1607), who in June 1585 married Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour.[6] After his father's death, Southampton's mother married firstly, on 2 May 1595, as his second wife, Sir Thomas Heneage (d. 17 October 1595), Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, and secondly, between 5 November 1598 and 31 January 1599, Sir William Hervey. She died in November 1607.[7] Early life When his father died on 4 October 1581 Southampton inherited the earldom and landed income valued at £1097 6s per annum. His wardship and marriage were sold by the Queen to her kinsman, Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, for £1000. According to Akrigg, Howard then "entered into some further agreement, of which no documentation can now be found, which transferred to Lord Burghley personally the custody and marriage of the young Earl, but left Howard holding his lands", and late in 1581 or early in 1582 Southampton, then eight years of age, came to live at Cecil House in the Strand.[8] In October 1585, at age twelve, Southampton entered St John's College, Cambridge,[9] graduating M.A. on 6 June 1589.[10] His name was entered at the Gray's Inn legal society before he left the university, and he was admitted on 29 February 1588.[11] On Southampton's 16th birthday, 6 October 1589, Lord Burghley noted Southampton's age in his diary, and by 1590 Burghley was negotiating with Southampton's grandfather, Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague, and Southampton's mother, Mary, for a marriage between Southampton and Lord Burghley's eldest granddaughter, Elizabeth Vere, daughter of Burghley's daughter, Anne Cecil, and Edward de Vere...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th Century by Giulio Benso The Expulsion of the Merchants From the Temple
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Giulio Benso (Genoa, 1592 - 1668) Nineteenth-century shaped and gilded wooden frame The marvellous canvas, a masterpiece by Giulio Benso, a 17th-century Genoese painter, depicts the...
Category

Early 17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Venus and Adonis
By Baron Pierre Narcisse Guerin (workshop)
Located in Paris, FR
Baron Pierre Narcisse GUERIN (Circle of) 1774-1833 French Venus et Adonis (Venus and Adonis) Oil on canvas Canvas: 53" high x 39 1/2" wide Frame: ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Elegant Georgian Young Ladies Woodland Park Antique English Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Morning Amusement' English School, circa 1800's after the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, British 1723-1792 oil painting on canvas, unframed please...
Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

18th Century by Giuseppe Bonito The Painter's Studio or Allegory of Painting
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Giuseppe Bonito (Castellammare di Stabia, 1707 - Naples 1789) The Painter's Studio or Allegory of Painting Oil on canvas, cm.40,5 x 64 - with frame cm....
Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Rich Merchant - Painting by Unknown - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
A rich merchant is an original old master artwork realized in the 18th Century. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas depicting a merchant looking at a coin in his left hand. Provena...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Lady Bagot - Niece to the Duke of Wellington
Located in Miami, FL
The sitter is Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesly-Pole, eldest daughter of William, 4th Earl of Mornington and niece to the Duke of Wellington. This is one of Hoppner's best works. The sitt...
Category

1780s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Five mid 20th century Italian oil landscapes with figures, castles, Churchs
Located in Woodbury, CT
A very interesting set of five mid-20th-century Italian oils on copper. All five are classical landscape subjects and are signed Roger, though we don't know which artist with the n...
Category

1950s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Copper

Spanish School 19th century, Santa Justa and Santa Rufina, oil on canvas
Located in Paris, FR
Spanish School of the 19th Century Santa Justa and Santa Rufina Oil on canvas 40 x 27 cm In quite good condition, the paint surface presents numerous crack...
Category

1840s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Parade of Swiss Guards a painting on canvas by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin
Located in PARIS, FR
In this painting, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, the great chronicler of the reign of Louis XV, takes us to the annual parade of the Swiss Guards at the Plaine de...
Category

1760s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Tavern Interior, 18th Century Old Master, Figurative Oil Painting by Schaak
Located in Greven, DE
A Tavern Interior - 18th Century Old Master, Figurative Oil Painting by Schaak Little is known about the artist J.S.C. Schaak. He was active in England as a portraitist between 1760-1770. His name indicates his German or Dutch origin. Especially portraits of generals...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Copper

Circa 1400, Spanish school of 'The Prophet Daniel', tempera on panel with gildin
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Spanish school, circa 1400 The prophet Daniel Tempera on panel with gilding 35.1/4 x 10.5/8 in. (89.5 x 28 cm.) Condition: The painting has been recently stabilised and cleaned up. ...
Category

15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Tempera

School of Liege, The Martyrdom of St Paul, A Religious Portrait
Located in Lincoln, GB
School of Liège, mid-17th century The Martyrdom of St Paul oil on canvas 57 3/4 by 42 3/8 in.; 146.8 by 107.6 cm. PROVENANCE J.J. Chapuis (red wax seal...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

FINE 18th CENTURY OLD MASTER CHALK DRAWING - ROMANESQUE FIGURES INTERIOR SCENE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, 18th century Title: Classical figures within an interior. Medium: chalk on paper, mounted. Size: drawing: 11.5 x 13.5 inches Provenance:...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Chalk

17th Century Classical Oil Painting - Diana With Her Attendants in a Grotto
By Abraham van Cuylenborch
Located in London, GB
Abraham van CUYLENBROCH (1620-1658) Diana With Her Attendants in a Grotto 1651 signed oil on panel 12.2 in x 15.7 inches, inc. frame; 31 x 40 cm Provenance: Sale of Sotheby's Lo...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady, After Sir Peter Lely (1610-1680) Oil Painting
By After Sir Peter Lely
Located in Uppingham, GB
Oil Painting After Sir Peter Lely (1610-1680) Portrait of a Lady Housed in a Lely gold Leaf Frame. Peter Lely: In 1647 he became a member of the Pain...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th Century Spanish school oil painting of the Holy Trinity
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Spanish school, 17th Century The Holy Trinity Oil on canvas laid on board 18 x 12.3/8 in. (48.2 x 31.5 cm.) Framed in a blackwood moulding with gilt slip
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

18th Century English Oil Landscape Painting: Elegant Figures alongside River Wye
By Attributed to William Marlow
Located in London, GB
Attributed to William Marlow (English, 1740-1813) Elegant Figures alongside the River Wye 1790 131 x 152 cm, inc. frame This quiet bucolic scene shows figur...
Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

An Architectural Capriccio with the Preaching of an Apostle
By Giovanni Paolo Panini
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Santambrogio Antichità, Milan; sold, 2007 to: Filippo Pernisa, Milan; by whom sold, 2010, to: Private Collection, Melide, Switzerland De Primi Fine Art, Lugano, Switzerland; from whom acquired, 2011 by: Private Collection, Connecticut (2011-present) Literature: Ferdinando Arisi, “Ancora sui dipinti giovanili del Panini,” Strenna Piacentina (Piacenza, 2009): pp. 48, 57, 65, fig. 31, as by Panini Ferdinando Arisi, “Panini o Ghisolfi o Carlieri? A proposito dei dipinti giovanili,” Strenna Piacentina, (Piacenza, 2010), pp. 100, 105, 116, fig. 101, as an early work by Panini, a variant of Panini’s painting in the Museo Cristiano, Esztergom, Hungary. This architectural capriccio is one of the earliest paintings by Giovanni Paolo Panini, the preeminent painter of vedute and capricci in 18th-century Rome. The attribution to Panini has been endorsed by Ferdinando Arisi, and a recent cleaning of the painting revealed the artist’s signature in the lower right. Like many of his fellow painters working in Rome during his day, Panini was not a native of the Eternal City. He first trained as a painter and stage designer in his hometown of Piacenza and moved to Rome at the age of 20 in November 1711 to study figure painting. Panini joined the workshop of Benedetto Luti (1666-1724) and from 1712 was living on the Piazza Farnese. Panini, like many before and after him, was spellbound by Rome and its classical past. He remained in the city for the rest of his career, specializing in depicting Rome’s most important monuments, as well as creating picturesque scenes like this one that evoked the city’s ancient splendor. The 18th century art historian Lione Pascoli, who likely knew Panini personally, records in his 1730 biography of the artist that when Panini came to Rome, he was already “an excellent master and a distinguished painter of perspective, landscape, and architecture.” Panini’s earliest works from this period still show the evidence of his artistic formation in Piacenza, especially the influence of the view painter Giovanni Ghisolfi (1623-1683). However, they were also clearly shaped by his contact in Rome with the architectural capricci of Alberto Carlieri...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist
Located in New York, NY
Lubin Baugin (Pithiviers 1610 – 1663 Paris) Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist Oil on canvas 22 x 42 ¼ inches (55.9 x 107.3 cm) Provenance: Marcello and Carlo ...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

A Beautiful and Large Marine - A Ship in Two Positions Off Dover
By William John Huggins
Located in London, GB
William John Huggins (1781-1845) A Ship in Two Positions Off Dover oil on canvas Unsigned 33 x 45 inches, inc. frame William John Huggins, of wh...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Grand 19th Century English Marine Painting in Stunning Light
By John Wilson Ewbank
Located in London, GB
John Wilson Ewbank (1799 - 1847) Shipping in the Harbour, South Shields Oil on canvas 39.5 x 58 inches unframed 47.75 x 66.5 inches framed Provenance: Christie's October 2002; Lot 11. Fine Art Society; Private Collection This marvellous up to scale Ewbank is full of light and warmth and almost certainly his greatest work of the sort rarely - if ever - seen on the market. John W. Ewbank (4 May 1799–28 November 1847), was an English-born landscape and marine painter largely operational from Scotland. The Humber river is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. Life Ewbank was born at Darlington on 4 May 1799, the son of Michael Ewbank, an innkeeper. He was adopted as a child by a wealthy uncle who lived at Wycliffe, on the banks of the River Tees, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Intended for the Roman Catholic priesthood, he was sent to Ushaw College, from which he absconded. In 1813 Ewbank was apprenticed to Thomas Coulson, an ornamental painter in Newcastle. In around 1816 he moved with Coulson to Edinburgh, where he had some lessons with Alexander Nasmyth. He found work both as a painter and a teacher. He was nominated in 1830 one of the foundation members of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1833 he is listed as living at 7 Union Street on the eastern fringe of the New Town in Edinburgh. Works His sketches from nature were especially admired, and a series of 51 drawings of Edinburgh by him were engraved by W. H. Lizars for James Browne's Picturesque Views of Edinburgh (1825). He also made a reputation with cabinet pictures of banks of rivers, coast scenes, and marine subjects. As an illustrator he illustrated some early editions of Scott's Waverley Novels and one edition of Gilbert White...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Large Antique 19th Century Dog Painting of a Poodle Inscribed "Zoraida"
Located in SANTA FE, NM
The name Zoraida in Arabic means "captivating woman" Large Antique 19th Century Dog Painting of a Poodle Inscribed "Zoraida" Oil on canvas, original frame 37 x 29.5 inches This is...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

18th Century Neoclassical Oil Painting of the Trojan War: Briseis & Achilles
By James Thornhill
Located in London, GB
James Thornhill (1674-1735) Oil on canvas 12 x 14 inches; 16 ½ x 18 ½ in. Inc. frame The subject matter and inclusion of herms on both sides shows the influence of Louis...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, painted on linen by his daughter Anna Greuze
Located in PARIS, FR
This replica of the last self-portrait of Jean-Baptiste Greuze painted in 1804, executed by his daughter Anna at her father's side and recently rediscovered, provides us with a poignant image of the great artist, represented with panache despite the disillusions of life. 1. Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze was the sixth child of a roofer from Tournus and retained a certain rusticity in his behaviour from his provincial childhood, beyond his taste for describing picturesque scenes of the countryside. He initially started training with a little-known painter from Lyon, Charles Grandon, before his genius was recognised in Paris where he became a full-time student of the Académie (of Painting) in 1755. He exhibited his work for the first time at the Salon during the summer of 1755, before leaving on a trip to Italy in the company of Louis Gougenot, abbot of Chezal-Benoît. Upon his return to Paris, Greuze became a prolific painter, participating widely in the Salons held between 1759 and 1765, to which he sent no less than 63 paintings: numerous genre scenes (The Marriage Contract, The Beloved Mother), but also portraits of his family circle, of courtiers and art lovers, or of his colleagues. The Academy closed the doors of the Salons to him in 1767 for not having produced his reception piece within six months of his reception, as was the tradition. He worked actively on this painting (Emperor Severus rebukes Caracalla, his son, for trying to assassinate him ) until the summer of 1769, tackling historical and mythological subjects for the first time. Once this was completed, he was then fully admitted to the Academy, but as a genre painter, and not as an historical painter, which had been one of the greatest humiliations of his life. Greuze then refused any participation in events organised by the Academy or its successor, the Academy of Fine Arts until 1800. Abandoning history painting, he gave a new twist to genre scenes, bringing them closer to history painting, as in this pair of canvases which constitutes some of his masterpieces: The Paternal Curse: The Ungrateful Son and The Paternal Curse: The Punished Son . Married in 1759 to Anne-Gabrielle Babuti, the daughter of a Parisian bookseller, his marriage was unhappy and his wife probably frequently unfaithful. The institution of divorce enabled him to record their separation in 1793, keeping his two daughters Anna-Geneviève, born in April 1762, and Louise-Gabrielle, born in May 1764, with him. Little is known about his daughter Anna except that she was herself a painter and lived with her father until his death. It is likely that most of the paintings she produced up to that date were attributed to her father, whose technique she shared to a great extent, making it extremely difficult to establish an autonomous corpus of her paintings. Greuze died in his studio at the Louvre on March 21st 1805. The attention paid to the expressivity of his characters and the emotional charge they convey enabled Jean-Baptiste Greuze to enjoy immense popularity with the eighteenth-century public, and they still constitute Greuze's true modernity. As the artist said, "I dipped my brush in my heart". Greuze was also an exceptional draughtsman and a portraitist of immense talent and exceptional longevity who painted both the Dauphin (the son of Louis XV and father to Louis XVI) and the young Napoleon Bonaparte. 2. Greuze's self-portraits Greuze was very much influenced by Dutch paintings during all his life. While the source of his inspiration for genre scenes can be found in Gerard Dou...
Category

Early 1800s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

19thc century classical French portrait sketch of a North African mans head
Located in Woodbury, CT
Outstanding small oil on velum sketch of a North African/ Arab head study. The painting is a classic sketch and I'm sure the figure would have been used in a much larger finished w...
Category

1850s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century French Oil Painting Algeria - Capture of the Smalah of Abd el Kader
Located in London, GB
Circle of Emile Jean Horace Vernet (1789-1863) The Capture of the Smalah of Abd el Kader oil on canvas 48 x 55 1/2 in; 121 x 141 cms (including magnificent contemporary carved frame) Provenance Private collection, United States This important and impressive work records the historic skirmish in 1843 between a cavalry unit lead by the duc de Aumale and the Arab chief Abd el Kader during the French military campaign in Algeria. The painting is attributed to Horace Vernet, and relates closely to a major work of the same subject by Vernet now in the Musée de l'Histoire de France in Versailles. The work is a classic example of French Orientalist painting...
Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Still Life with Fishes and Oysters - Oil on Canvas - 17th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Still life with fishes and oysters is an original oil on canvas realized in the 17th Century by Neapolitan School Master. Impressive in size as well as for its vivid representation o...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

French 18th Century Old Master oil painting of a soldier departing from his home
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Circle of Jean-Baptiste Francois Pater (French, 1695-1736) Le depart du convoie Oil on canvas 36.1/2 x 39.3/4 in. (92.8 x 101 cm.)
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Double Portrait Oil Painting Brothers George, 2nd Duke Buckingham & Lord Francis
Located in London, GB
Aftrer Anthony VAN DYCK - maybe Studio (1599, Antwerp – 1641, London) Flemish Double Portrait of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628-1687) & Lord Francis Villiers (1629-1648) Oil on Canvas 170 x 147 cm Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) No painter has done more to define an era than Anthony van Dyck. He spent only seven and a half years of his short life (1599- 1641) in England. He grew up in Antwerp, where his precocious talent was recognised by Peter Paul Rubens, the greatest painter of his age. He worked in Rubens’s studio and imitated his style as a religious artist, painting biblical scenes redolent of the lush piety of the counter-reformation. But soon he was on the move. In 1620, he visited London for a few months, long enough to paint a history picture, The Continence of Scipio, for the royal favourite, George Villiers, Marquess of Buckingham, and a portrait of his other English patron, the great art collector, Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel. After a stint in Italy, making imposing portraits of the wealthy aristocracy and sketching and copying works by Titian, he returned to the Spanish Netherlands in 1627, becoming court artist to Archduchess Isabella before departing for The Hague in 1631 to paint the Dutch ruler Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Charles I’s invitation in 1632 led Van Dyck back to London where he was knighted, paid an annual salary of £200 and installed in a house in Blackfriars with a special jetty at which the royal barge might tie up when the King was visiting his studio. By this time Van Dyck was recognised as the leading court painter in Europe, with Velazquez at the court of Philip IV of Spain his only rival. He also excelled as a superbly observant painter of children and dogs. Van Dyck’s notoriety in depicting children led to the introduction of groups of children without their parents as a new genre into English painting (amongst other new genres). For the next 300 years, Van Dyck was the major influence on English portraiture. Nearly all the great 18th Century portraitists, from Pompeo Batoni and Allan Ramsay to Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, copied Van Dyck’s costumes, poses and compositions. George Duke of Buckingham & his brother Francis Villiers Painted in 1635, this double portrait was originally commissioned by Charles I, who raised the two brothers after their father, George Villiers, was assassinated in 1628. Together with their sister, Lady Mary Villiers, they enjoyed the King’s favour absolutely. Francis whose absolute ‘inimitable handsomeness’ was noted by Marvell (who was killed in a skirmish near Kingston upon Thames). The young duke who commanded a regiment of horse at the Battle of Worcester, remained closely associated with Charles II, held a number of high offices after the Restoration and was one of the most cynical and brilliant members of the King’s entourage, immortalised as ‘Zimri’ in Dryden’s Absalom and Achitopbel. As a young man he had sold his father’s great collection of pictures in the Spanish Netherlands, many of them to the Archduke Leopold Willhelm. Painted for Charles I and placed near the portrait of their sister in the Gallery at St James’ Palace. The handling of both costumes is very rich, and the heads are very carefully and sensitively worked. That of the younger boy in particular is more solidly built up than the lower part of the figure. A preparatory drawing for the younger boy is in the British Museum. There are copies at, e.g., Highclere Castle...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

1600s Baroque Spiritual Ghosts Supernatural Intense Figures Medieval Old Masters
By Abraham WIllemsens
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Fortune Teller" is an original oil painting on canvas by Abraham Willemsens, Maitre aux Beguins (Master of the Hats). It depicts a fortune tell...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Figure Ice Skating In Hyde Park, 18th Century Philip Jakob II DE LOUTHERBOURG
Located in Blackwater, GB
Figure Ice Skating In Hyde Park, 18th Century Philip Jakob II DE LOUTHERBOURG (1740-1812) Fine huge 18th century Old Master morning frozen winter landscape of figures skating at Hyde Park, oil on canvas. Stunning large scale superb quality and condition winter scene with figures skating on the frozen water. Though unsigned the style and detail is unmistakably De Loutherbourg with a very similar composition currently held in the UK Government Art Collection (Whitehall & Downing Street...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

18th Century European Portrait of a Child Saint John the Baptist
Located in SANTA FE, NM
18th Century European Portrait of a Child Saint John the Baptist Oil on Canvas 19 x 14 1/4 inches This lovely and sensitively painting has been examined by a professional restorer w...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Head of an Angel
Located in New York, NY
Procaccini was born in Bologna, but his family moved to Milan when the artist was eleven years old. His artistic education was evidently familial— from his father Ercole and his elder brothers Camillo and Carlo Antonio, all painters—but his career began as a sculptor, and at an early age: his first known commission, a sculpted saint for the Duomo of Milan, came when he was only seventeen years old. Procaccini’s earliest documented painting, the Pietà for the Church of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan, was completed by 1604. By this time the artist had made the trip to Parma recorded by his biographers, where he studied Correggio, Mazzola Bedoli, and especially Parmigianino; reflections of their work are apparent throughout Procaccini's career. As Dr. Hugh Brigstocke has recently indicated, the present oil sketch is preparatory for the figure of the angel seen between the heads of the Virgin and St. Charles Borrommeo in Procaccini's altarpiece in the Church of Santa Afra in Brescia (ill. in Il Seicento Lombardo; Catalogo dei dipinti e delle sculture, exh. cat. Milan 1973, no. 98, pl. 113). As such it is the only known oil sketch of Procaccini's that can be directly connected with an extant altarpiece. The finished canvas, The Virgin and Child with Saints Charles Borrommeo and Latino with Angels, remains in the church for which it was painted; it is one of the most significant works of Procaccini's maturity and is generally dated after the artist's trip to Genoa in 1618. The Head of an Angel is an immediate study, no doubt taken from life, but one stylistically suffused with strong echoes of Correggio and Leonardo. Luigi Lanzi, writing of the completed altarpiece in 1796, specifically commented on Procaccini's indebtedness to Correggio (as well as the expressions of the angels) here: “Di Giulio Cesare...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Canvas, Oil

Winged Putti Paint Oil on canvas Baroque 17th Century Mitological Michelangelo
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Attributed to Giovanni Battista Merano (Genoa 1632 - Piacenza 1698) Pair of winged cherubs with chains Genoese school, around 1670-80 Oil on canvas, 67 x 57 cm. Framed 89 x 78 cm. This pleasant painting, depicting a pair of winged cherubs, is attributed to Genoese Giovan Battista Merano (Genoa 1632 - Piacenza 1698), trained in Genoa first in the workshop of Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari, and then of Valerio Castello, of whom he became one of the best students. It was probably the latter who advised the student to stay in the then Duchy of Parma to study Correggio and Parmigianino, as he had done in his time. During this first stay in Parma Giovanni Battista worked on the fresco decoration of the oratory...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th Century, Old Master, "King Basileus Alexander of Macedon Magnus, the Great"
Located in Berlin, DE
Very decorative, 17th century, old master painting, oil on canvas, King Alexander Magnus, the great. Illustration of two children, putti, with wreaths of flowers on a board (or maus...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Christian Charity - Tempera by the circle of Bernardo Strozzi - 1630s
By Bernardo Strozzi
Located in Roma, IT
Christian Charity is an original Old Master Painting realized in the first half of the XVII Century, most probably in the 1630s, by one of the pupils of the Italian artist Bernardo Strozzi...
Category

1630s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Canvas

18th Century, Antique Oil Painting, Old Master. Portrait of Mother with child.
Located in Berlin, DE
18th century, antique painting, oil on canvas, old master. Mother with child. Relined canvas. Stretcher frame also renewed. Artist unknown.
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Lamentation of Christ, 16th Century Oil Old Master
Located in London, GB
Circle of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio 1483 - 1561 Oil on panel Image size: 20 ½ x 16 ½ inches (52 x 42 cm) Handmade contemporary style gilt frame The lamentation of Christ was one of the most popular scenes depicted in European art from the 11th to the 18th century. Depicting the lamentation or pieta from the Italian word for ‘Pity’ of Christ with Jesus’s mother Mary cradling his body. Christ is depicted nude, wearing only a blueish loincloth around his waist, a horizontal scar marking his rib cage. His head and torso are held upright, and his eyes are closed, his right arm lays to his side as does his left. Standing behind him, is the Virgin Mary, outfitted in her traditional dress of a robe with a white veil. She stands behind Christ and bends slightly, looking looking away from Christ to something that has caught her attention, her right hand holding his shoulder. Her left-hand carefully holds his arm. This work is quite unusual with Mary . This stunning work jumps out with its dark background and strong flesh colours. Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was the son of the eminent painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. Following his father’s death in 1494, when he was just eleven years old, Ridolfo is thought to have continued his training with his uncle Davide, who had taken over the Ghirlandaio workshop. Vasari noted that Ridolfo also studied with Fra Bartolommeo...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Esther in the Women's House of Ahasuerus
By Artus Wolfort
Located in New York, NY
Born in Antwerp, Artus Wolffordt received his training in Dordrecht where he became a master in 1603 at the age of twenty-two. He returned to his native city in 1615 and initially worked as an assistant to Otto van Veen...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

FINE 17TH CENTURY ITALIAN OLD MASTER OIL ON CANVAS - THE BATHING OF BATHSHEBA
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Italian School, 17th century Title: The Bathing of Bathsheba Medium: oil painting, on canvas Size: frame: 23 x 19 inches, canvas: 18 x 14 inches Provenanc...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Peasants Playing Bowls Outside an Inn, 17th Century Oil on Oak Old Master
Located in London, GB
Studio of David Teniers the Younger 1610 - 1690 Peasants Playing Bowls Outside an Inn Oil on oak cradled panel, signed Image size: 16 ½ x 22 ½ inches Gilt s...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

INSIDE SCENE - Carlo Passarelli Italian figurative oil on carboard painting
Located in Napoli, IT
INSIDE SCENE - Italian figurative oil on carboard painting, cm.17x29, Carlo Passarelli, 1900s
Category

Early 1900s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Cardboard, Oil

Men Fraternizing with Ladies, Pre-20th Cen Oil Painting by Wilfrid Beauquesne
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Wilfrid Constant Beauquesne, French (1840 - 1913) Title: Men Fraternizing with the Ladies Year: c. 1890 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.l. Size: 21.5 x 26 in. (54.61 x 66.04 ...
Category

1890s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Monumental 17th Century Landscape Painting with Figures in an Arcadian setting
Located in London, GB
Enormous 17th Century Italian landscape with figures in Arcadia. Unframed at present. Excellent condition.
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

FINE 17th CENTURY ITALIAN OLD MASTER OIL PAINTING - FIGURES GARDENING LANDSCAPE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"The Working Landscape" Italian School, 17th century oil painting on canvas, framed canvas: 42.5cm x 60cm framed: 50.5cm x 68cm Fine quality Italian Old Master oil painting on can...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

17th Century Oil Painting Portrait of a Young English Boy
By Gerard Soest
Located in London, GB
Gerard SOEST (1600 - 1681) Portrait of a Young Boy oil on canvas 35.5 x 30.5 inches inc. frame Gerard Soest (circa 1600 – 11 February 1681), also known as Gerald Soest, was a portra...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th Century, Old Master Painting, Oil on Canvas, "The Rest with the Horses".
Located in Berlin, DE
17th century, old master painting, oil on canvas, "The rest with the horses". Relined canvas. The stretcher was also renewed once. The painting is rather dark, like i.a. on photo n...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

19th Century European Mother With Twins
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
19th Century European School Mother with twins. Well executed 19Th Century oil on canvas, European School possibly Austrian, unsigned in the style of Old Masters. canvas 29"x19" ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Annunciation to the Virgin Attributed to Cornelis SCHUT
Located in Pasadena, CA
Early 17th-century copper painting depicting a religious scene, School Annunciation, Oil on Copper attributed to Cornelis SCHUT, painter of Antwerp (159...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Copper

A Large 18th Century Hunting painting of Duck Flighting
Located in London, GB
Attributed to James Ross Snr. A Large 18th Century Hunting painting of Duck Flighting oil on canvas 36.5 x 45 inches, inc. frame This l...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Old Masters figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Antonio Savisio, Goyo Dominguez, Paul Emile Léon Perboyre, and William Anderson. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Old Masters figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 4.53 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $384 and tops out at $1,495,000, while the average work sells for $4,898.

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