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Old Masters Portrait 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.

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Style: Old Masters
Portrait of a Young Man - 17th Century Portrait in Oil
By Pieter Harmensz Verelst
Located in London, GB
Circle of Pieter Harmensz Verelst 1618 - 1678 Portrait of a Young Man Oil on oak panel Image size: 7 ½ x 5 ¾ inches Dutch ripple frame
Category

18th Century and Earlier Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Portrait of a Young Prince, 19th c., by Mystery Artist
Located in New York, NY
Mystery Artist Untitled (Young Prince), c. 1800-1900 Oil on canvas 16 x 13 in. Framed: 23 x 19 1/2 x 2 in.
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Child Jesus Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Baby Italian Religious
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Lombard painter active in the 17th century Infant Jesus Oil painting on canvas 70 x 82 cm. - In antique frame 78 x 91 cm. This painting depicts an unusual and pleasant iconographic...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Queen Maria Theresa King Van Meytens 18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Martin van Meytens (Stockholm 1695 - Vienna 1770) Portrait of Empress Maria Theresa of Habsburg (Vienna 1717 - 1780) Portrait of Emperor Francis I of Lorraine (1708 - 1765) oil on ...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

A portrait of a lady and her daughter with an exotic bird
By Michael Dahl
Located in Bath, Somerset
A portrait of a lady three-quarter length, seated in an interior, wearing a red silk gown draped in a pink silk sash with an exotic bird perched on her hand and one arm resting on a stone plinth, her young daughter wearing a green silk gown standing at her side. Oil on canvas, housed in a period 'Lely' giltwood frame. This double portrait was painted at the height of Dahl's career in circa 1715 when Dahl had become firmly established as one of the leading portrait painters in Britain. Although the identities of the sitters are currently unknown, it is a sensitive depiction of a close and affectionate bond between a mother and daughter, with the young girl's hand resting affectionately on her mothers lap. The tamed exotic bird adds a charming decorative element which also serves to convey the high social status of the lady, given only the very wealthy would be able to own such a rare and expensive pet and the lively colouring of the bird's feathers is reflected in the colours of the sitters' silk gowns. Provenance: Private collection, London Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659-1743 London) was born in Stockholm in Sweden and studied under Martin Hannibal (d 1741) and later with David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl. In 1682 he travelled to London, where he became acquainted with Godfrey Kneller and Henry Tilson, and in 1685 he left for Europe with Tilson, working briefly in Paris before continuing to Venice and Rome, where they stayed for about two years. In Rome Dahl converted to Roman Catholicism and gravitated towards the circle of Christina, former Queen of Sweden, who sat for him (Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincs). He returned to England with Tilson via Frankfurt and arrived in London in 1689, staying in England for the remainder of his career. During Dahl's absence, Kneller had consolidated his supremacy in London as the most fashionable portrait painter, but Dahl rapidly became Kneller’s closest competitor. His patrons probably had roots in the Swedish diplomatic circles, but it expanded as a result of his ability and his agreeable personality. His prices were lower than those of Kneller and he favoured softer, more diffused, colour tones and could respond to his sitters with sincerity and humanity. Politically, Kneller supported the ascendant Whigs while Dahl was a Tory, but they frequently painted the same sitters from both parties, and in spite of fundamental differences in technique and temperament, their work was sometimes similar in appearance. Dahl was prolific but rarely signed his work, and comparatively few of his portraits were engraved in mezzotint, the method used by Kneller to widen his reputation. By 1690 he had painted the aged Duke of Schomberg (engraved by William Faithorne) and Prince George of Denmark (London, Kensington Palace). He was ignored by William III but received commissions from Princess Anne, including one for a portrait of herself (Oakly Park, Ludlow, Salop). He also painted the future Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and his informal portrait of the Duchess (Althorp House, Northants), formerly attributed to Kneller, is perhaps the most intimate of all images of her. During the 1690s he secured the patronage of Charles Seymour, the ‘Proud’ 6th Duke of Somerset, who ordered a series of seven full-length portraits of notable contemporary beauties from Dahl (1690s; Petworth House, W. Sussex, NT). This was originally a scheme similar to Kneller’s more famous ‘Hampton Court Beauties’, but the portraits were subsequently reduced to three-quarter-length formats. The features of the sitters are not individualized, but they possess a decorative, languorous glamour that recalls Lely rather than Kneller. Somerset gave Dahl further employment over the next 25 years. In 1698, following the death of Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, Dahl was offered the post of court painter at Stockholm, which he apparently refused, preferring to remain in London at his studio in Leicester Fields, near the Swedish legation. In about 1700 he was joined by a young compatriot, Hans Hysing, who worked with him for many years. Dahl seems not to have married until after 1708, He had a son Michael (d. 1741), also a painter, of whose work nothing is known, and two daughters. After the accession of Queen Anne in 1701, she and Prince George sat for a number of official portraits. His royal patronage ceased with Queen Anne’s death, and when Dahl refused to paint the infant Duke of Cumberland in 1722. He was suspected of Jacobite sympathies, and relations had cooled between him and the Swedish legation. However, his practice continued to prosper, and he acquired another important patron in Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford, who shared his political views and whose circle included the architect James Gibbs and the poets Matthew Prior and Alexander Pope, all of whom Dahl painted. Oxford commissioned several portraits of himself. In the earliest (1719; Welbeck Abbey...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

19th century antique portrait lady in landscape Godfrey Kneller (manner of)
Located in York, GB
Fine Portrait of a lady standing in a landscape wearing a white satin dress and holding a posy of flowers. Manner of Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th century Dutch portrait of a Lady in Red adorned with Pearls
By Pieter Nason
Located in Bath, Somerset
Portrait of a lady, half-length in a feigned oval wearing a ruby coloured silk gown holding entwined strings of pearls across her bodice. Signed 'PNason' and dated 1667 (lower right)...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Henry Raeburn, (circle) 19th Century portrait of Sir Charles Forbes Edinglassie
By Henry Raeburn (circle)
Located in York, GB
Portrait of Sir Charles Forbes of Edinglassie, Oil on canvas. The size of the portrait is 75 cm x 59.5 cm whilst overall the size is 106 cm x 91 cm In very good condition.There has been some restoration/overpainting etc.There is some minor craquelure. Housed in a period gilt frame decorated with acorns and leaves Overall a good portrait, circle of a fine scottish artist (unsigned) , with an interesting sitter, his details below. sir Charles Forbes of Edinglassie Sir Charles Forbes, 1st Baronet (1774–1849) was a Scottish politician, of Newe and Edinglassie, Aberdeenshire. Forbes was the son of the Rev. George Forbes of Lochell. He was a descendant of Alexander Forbes of Kinaldie and Pitsligo, and was in 1833 served heir male in general to Alexander Forbes, 3rd lord Forbes of Pitsligo, father of Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, attainted in 1745. Forbes was of a bluff but kindly nature, diffident as to his own merits, of a straightforward and manly character. On the death of his uncle in 1821 Forbes succeeded to the entailed estates of the Forbeses of Newe, and was created a baronet by patent in 1823.[1] He married in 1811. His daughter, Elizabeth, married General, Lord James Hay, second son of the seventh Marquess of Tweeddale. Sir Henry Raeburn FRSE, RA, RSA (1756-1823) Scottish portrait painter and Scotland's first significant portrait painter since the Union to remain based in Scotland. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland Raeburn had all the essential qualities of a popular and successful portrait painter. He was able to produce a telling and forcible likeness; his work is distinguished by powerful characterisation, stark realism, dramatic and unusual lighting...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

18th century portrait of the artist’s daughter, Catharina, playing the cello
By Balthasar Denner
Located in Bath, Somerset
The sitter, seated in a yellow silk gown trimmed with a pink bow playing the cello, is believed to be the artist Balthazar Denner's eldest daughter Catharina (1715-1744), after his marriage to Esther Winter in Hamburg in 1712. She is also recognisable in another portrait of the Denner family in the Hamburg Kunsthalle, painted circa 1740 by the artist's son, Jacob Denner (1722-1765). Oil on canvas in a period giltwood frame. Provenance: Private collection, Northern Germany Professor Helmut Borsch-Supan, Berlin, confirmed the authenticity of the painting after examining it in 2013. The painting will also be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonnée of the artist, by Ute Mannhardt. Balthasar Denner...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait Of A Gentleman George Williams Kenworthy by John Dalziel Kenworthy
Located in York, GB
John Dalziel Kenworthy portrait of a gentleman . Fine, large and imposing oil on canvas housed in a gilt frame. The sitter is unidentified, he has an aristocratic and characterful lo...
Category

Early 1900s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

18th century painting of the Dalbiac family in the gardens of a country house
By Charles Philips
Located in Bath, Somerset
The painting depicts James (Jacques) Dalbiac, his wife Louise (ne de la Porte) and their five children, James, Charles, Louise, Marianne and Martha in the ornamental gardens of a grand country estate. The extensive gardens extend into the distance with gardeners working in the background and figures strolling through the avenues of trees. A peacock and peahen can be seen on the wall to the left and a potted orange tree to the right. Louise Dalbiac holds an orange taken from the orange tree, aluding to the family's faith and their loyalty to the protestant King William of Orange and their adopted country. The Dalbiacs were wealthy London silk and velvet merchants of French Huguenot origin who had fled France at the end of the 17th century to escape persecution for their protestant faith. England offered safe refuge and their skills and industriousness allowed them to establish one of the most successful businesses in London's Spitalfields which became a new centre of the silk trade, effectively leading to the collapse of the once dominant French silk industry. Both sons, James and Charles followed their father and Uncle into the family business, successfully growing the family's fortune and each going on to own their own country estates. A conversation piece is a genre of painting used to describe group portraits of families and friends, often depicted with their servants and family pets and set within an elegantly furnished interior or the garden of a grand country house. They were a celebration of the intimacy of family relations as well as a sign of status, property and the power of succession. The informality of conversation pieces grew popular in 18th century England, allowing the sitters to present themselves in a more relaxed pose, perhaps engaged in intellectual conversation or showing their talents or interests. In this present portrait, the Dalbiacs are shown richly dressed and and at leisure in a grand country house setting, conveying their success and cultural and social aspirations. Charles Philips (c.1703–1747) was an English artist known for painting a number of portraits and conversation pieces for noble and Royal patrons in the mid-eighteenth century. He was the son of portrait painter Richard Philips...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Saint Cecilia Angels De La Haye Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Lucas de la Haye, called Luca Fiammingo (Nivelles, 1612-Rome, 1682) Saint Cecilia and two cherubs Oil on canvas 118 x 91 cm. -Framed 129 x 102 cm. Expertise of Prof. Emilio Negro (Bologna) This evocative painting, which we are delighted to exhibit to you, has Saint Cecilia, the Roman noblewoman who later converted to Christianity and a very popular figure in the Baroque period as the patron saint of music, instrumentalists and singers, at the centre of the composition. She is depicted here as a splendid maiden dressed in regal robes...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Oil Portrait of a Victorian Lady, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
Painted in the 19th century, this exquisite miniature portrait wonderfully exemplifies realism in traditional oil painting. The small artwork is painted in the conventional portraiture style of the Old Masters, and achieves soft realism with fine brushwork and a subdued, neutral palette. The half length portrait depicts a fine Victorian woman dressed in all black with a delicate lace collar and bonnet. She wears a ruby broach...
Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Fleur de Neige, Portrait de Mme Godillot
Located in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, FR
Fleur de Neige by Jan Van Beers, painted in July 1880, stands out for the delicacy of its depiction. This remarkable portrait depicts a woman dressed in a sumptuous white costume, ad...
Category

1880s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Holy Family Religious Paint Oil on table Tuscan School 17th/18th Century Art
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
The Holy Family Tuscan school, 17th-18th century Oil on panel 30 x 24 cm In frame 41 x 33 cm This pleasant devotional painting, commonly referred to as “The Holy Family”, dep...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady - Old Master British early 19thC oil painting woman bonnet
Located in Hagley, England
A fantastic British oil painting which is unsigned and is circle of Thomas Lawrence. It depicts a portrait of a lady and dates to circa 1820. This is a super portrait painting which ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

GEORGE ROMNEY(after)19th century portrait The Hon.Reverend Anchitel Grey as a Bo
Located in York, GB
A fine painting after George Romney of The Hon.Reverend Anchitel Grey (1774 – 1833) as a Boy The painting depicts a boy aged about ten, standing, turned to the left, gazing at the spectator, wearing a blue coat, and white linen collar, a spaniel with its paws on his chest. Shoulder length brown hair. Trees in the background on the right, distant horizon with cloudy sky on the left. The sitter was the third son of George Harry Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford (1765-1845) and Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Bentinck (died 4th June 1827), daughter of the 2nd Duke of Portland...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16/17th Century Italian Raffaello Art
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th century Portrait of Captain Niccolò Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola. Tuscany, end of the 16th century Oil on canvas, 64 x 47 cm., Framed 89 x 73 cm. The portrait we present to you shows the effigy of a vigorous high-ranking male figure in armor, in the most typical Renaissance pose, half-length and taken in profile, with his face and gaze turned to the side; the serious and intense expression and the facial features evoke at first glance the portraiture of early Florentine mannerism. He is Niccolò III Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola and son of Aldobrandino Orsini, famous leader and captain (or capitano di ventura) who lived between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who served for the state Pontifical in Naples and Florence and above all for the Republic of Venice. Portraiture with these characters, which derives from ancient coinage, was used in the sixteenth century in the sequences of Portraits of Illustrious Men, both in painting and in sculpture. The profile portrait was in fact a genre reserved, according to the Renaissance tradition, for celebrations, presenting those characteristics of imperturbability typical of the military role covered. Our painting is a work created by an author active in Tuscany towards the end of the sixteenth century, adhering to those pictorial styles made famous by the portraitist Cristofano di Papi dell'Altissimo (1530-1605), a pupil of Bronzino and then of Pontormo, known for having created a collection of about 500 portraits of illustrious men, known as the 'Gioviana Series' (now in the Uffizi Gallery); and among these it is possible to identify one dedicated to Niccolò Orsini. Our painting is inspired, in particular, by a print taken from the collection of prints...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

18th Century by Alessandro Longhi Portrait of a young musician Oil on canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Alessandro Longhi (Venice, Italy, 1733 – 1813) Title: Portrait of a young musician in front of his desk with a score in his hand Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 39.5 ...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of George Gordon, 7th Laird of Buckie (1707-1756)
Located in Maidenhead, GB
John Alexander (Scottish, 1686-1766) Portrait of George Gordon, 7th Laird of Buckie (Scottish, 1707-1756), c. 1743 Oil on canvas In a carved ebonised frame, with gilded inner slight...
Category

1740s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Philip V King Spain Louise Savoy Queen Gobert Paint Oil 18th Century Old master
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Circle of Pierre Gobert (Fontainebleau 1662 - Paris 1744) Pair of portraits Portrait of Philip V, King of Spain (Versailles 1683 - Madrid 1746) Portrait of Queen Louise of Savoy (16...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

CHERUBIM WITH FLOWERS- Italian School - Italian Figurative Oil painting
Located in Napoli, IT
Cherubim with flowers - Oil on canvas cm.80x100 by Giulio Di Sotto, Italy, 2002. Gold leaf gilded wooden frame available on request This wonderful oil on canvas represents two putti...
Category

Early 2000s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Escuela española (XIX) - Óleo sobre tela - Retrato de dama con joyas y monóculo
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
La obra no va firmada, es de autor anónimo Estado de conservación aceptable Se presenta sin enmarcar la obra Medidas de la obra: 75 x 64 cm.
Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

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 Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th century portrait of a lady
Located in Bath, Somerset
Portrait of a lady by Dutch Golden Age painter Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693). Half-length, within a feigned oval, the lady wears a pearl necklace and earrings, an ivory silk gown adorned...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait Lady Pulzone Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16th Century Italian Roma
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Scipione Pulzone, called Il Gaetano (Gaeta 1544 - Rome 1598) - workshop of Portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 - 1587) Grand Duchess of Tuscany, second wife of Francesco I de 'Medici Second half of the 16th century oil on canvas, cm. 70 x 56 cm., Framed 103 x 87 cm. The proposed painting illustrates the portrait of Bianca Cappello (Venice, 1548 - 1587), a noblewoman of Venetian origins, second wife of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco I de 'Medici, whose expressive power is wisely highlighted by the composite cut of light three quarters, with the head and gaze directed at the observer. The beam of light coming from her right brings out the volumes of her face plastically and lingers on her features, highlighted by the large white lace ruff that surrounds his neck and by the details of her precious clothing. Bianca wears a dark red dress, perhaps a zimarra, embroidered in gold with a plunging neckline and a raised collar of the shirt curled in a ruff and also edged with precious lace, embroidered with the motif of the Florentine lily.   The favorite jewels of the noblewoman were pearls: we see them on a choker that adorns the neckline, in the earrings and again in the hairstyle, which sees the hair gathered at the nape of the neck and adorned with a string of small black pearls and embellished with a clasp. It is a high-quality painting that can be confined to the workshop of the painter Scipione Pulzone called Gaetano, representing at best a pictorial genre, that of portraiture, in which the master excelled. This attribution would be confirmed by comparisons with the numerous portraits that Pulzone dedicated to the Medici family. Our painting, in particular, could represent one of the versions that the workshop has replicated, at the request of the numerous art collectors who wish to have a portrait of one of the most influential personalities of the Florentine scene. The characters drawn by Pulzone were icons of incomparable elegance: noblewomen, knights and religious lent their faces to the eye of the artist who was able to grasp every meticulous detail with his superb technique. A photographic wealth and surprising material attention that trace the pictorial prototypes of Flemish inspiration, in particular of Antonis Mor...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Terwesten Woman Allegory Art Paint Oil on canvas 17/18th Century Old master
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Mattheus Terwesten (The Hague, 1670 - 1757) Portrait of a young woman with palette and brushes, as Allegory of the art of Painting Oil on canvas 160 x 91 cm. - In frame 178 x 107 cm...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Cleric - British 18th century art Old Master oil painting
By Joseph Highmore
Located in Hagley, England
This fantastic portrait oil painting is attributed to British Old Master Joseph Highmore and was painted in 1770. The half length standing portrait is of a Cleric, dressed in his wig...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Old Master Portrait of a Gentleman - British 18th century oil painting
By Michael Dahl
Located in Hagley, England
This stunning 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to Swedish born, England based artist Michael Dahl. Painted circa 1690 it is a sumptuous half length portrai...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Óleo sobre lienzo - Retrato de un Rabino
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Como pueden apreciar, la obra va firmada por el artista en la parte inferior (A.GROSZ) Se presenta enmarcada la obra (el marco presenta algunas faltas) El estado de la obra es buen...
Category

Early 1900s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Escuela española (XIX) - Óleo sobre tela - Retrato de caballero
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Estado de conservación aceptable Se presenta enmarcada la obra Medidas de la obra: 62 x 51 cm. Medidas del marco: 75 x 65 cm.
Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Girl with Basket of Flowers -British 18thC Old Master oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This charming 18th century Old Master cartouche portrait oil painting is attributed to the circle of Philip Mercier. Painted circa 1740 the composition is a three quarter length portrait of a young girl holding a wicker basket of flowers. She is clothed in a white dress and beautiful blue silk shawl and is situated in a landscape. A very lovely British Old Master portrait oil painting. Provenance. Christies. Condition. Oil on canvas, 30 inches by 25 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt carved 18th century frame, 38 inches by 33 inches and in good condition. Philippe Mercier (also known as Philip Mercier; 1689-1760) was a French painter and etcher, who lived principally and was active in England. He was born in Berlin of French extraction, the son of a Huguenot tapestry-worker. He studied painting at the Akademie der Wissenschaften of Berlin and later under Antoine Pesne, who had arrived in Berlin in 1710. Later, he travelled in Italy and France before arriving in London—"recommended by the Court at Hannover"—probably in 1716. He married in London in 1719 and lived in Leicester Fields. He was appointed principal painter and librarian to the Prince and Princess of Wales at their independent establishment in Leicester Fields, and while he was in favour he painted various portraits of...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

British Portrait of Two English Children Dog - Circle Sir William Beechey
Located in Miami, FL
This charming portrait is a statement piece for any space. The two elegantly handsome sitters are brother and sister and are accompanied by their loyal dog. With 18th and 19th century British portraiture, it's the sitters' attractiveness that makes a painting desirable and drives price. There are lively brush strokes with impasto in the trees The nameplate identifies the sitters as Robert & Marianne Lawrence-Townsend - The Family of Lawrence-Townsend were originally descendants of the Lawrence Family of Wiltshire who inherited the name Townsend along with an estate, Steanbridge House near Stroud in Gloucestershire. Robert would appear to be the son born in 1797, educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, former Captain in the British Army and who became a Magistrate for Gloucester. Condition is good with some old repairs. painting beckons with vibrancy. Presents very well and is best viewed with a top key light. Private collection and perhaps Phillips Auctioneers New York 1995 per letter. Framed Size 66 x 43.5 x 4 W.R. Peddigrew, Western Cardiff, South Wales Provenance: The Estate of Mrs. Eleanor Goddard Daniels, Worcester, Massachusetts. Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, June 1981 The uploaded video on 1stDibs is coming up a bit off color. Refer to the still images for more accurate color Originally this work was attributed to Sir William Beechey...
Category

Early 1800s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ecce Homo Christ Paint Oil on canvas 17th Century Old master Leonardo Italian
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Lombard painter of the seventeenth century Ecce Homo Oil painting on canvas 56 x 43 cm. , framed 75 x 63 cm. Provenance: Florence, Pandolfini, 5.10.2021, lot 209 The proposed canv...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady with Rose - British art Old Master portrait oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This charming British early 19th century portrait oil painting is attributed to circle of Sir William Etty and is masterfully portrayed with beautiful pre Impressionist impasto. Pain...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Early 17th Century Portrait
Located in London, GB
English School, (circa 1600) Portrait of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke Oil on panel, oval Image size: 29¼ x 23⅞ inches Painted wooden frame Provenance: 176, Collection of Francis Greville, 1st Earl of Warwick. The Trustees of the Lord Brooks’ Settlement, (removed from Warwick Castle). Sotheby’s, London, 22nd March 1968, lot 81. Painted onto wooden panel, this portrait shows a dark haired gentleman in profile sporting an open white shirt. On top of this garments is a richly detailed black cloak, decorated with gold thread and lined with a sumptuous crimson lining. With the red silk inside it’s all very expensive and would fall under sumptuary laws – so this is a nobleman of high degree. It’s melancholic air conforms to the contemporary popularity of this very human condition, evident in fashionable poetry and music of the period. In comparison to our own modern prejudices, melancholy was associated with creativity in this period. This portrait appeared in the earliest described list of pictures of Warwick castle dating to 1762. Compiled by collector and antiquary Sir William Musgrave ‘taken from the information of Lord & Lady Warwick’ (Add. MSS, 5726 fol. 3) is described; ‘8. Earl of Essex – an original by Zuccharo – seen in profile with black hair. Holding a black robe across his breast with his right hand.’ As tempting as it is to imagine that this is a portrait of Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl Essex, we might take this with a pinch of salt. Its identification with this romantic and fatal Elizabethan might well have been an attempt to add romance to Warwick Castle’s walls. It doesn’t correspond all that well with Essex’s portraits around 1600 after his return from Cadiz. Notably, this picture was presumably hung not too far away from the castle’s two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I. The first, and undoubtedly the best, being the exquisite coronation portrait that was sold by Lord Brooke in the late 1970s and now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. The second, described as being ‘a copy from the original at Ld Hydes’, has yet to resurface. The portrait eventually ended up being hung in the State Bedroom of Warwick Castle. Archival documents present one other interesting candidate. The Greville family’s earliest inventory of paintings, made in 1630 at their home Brooke House in Holborn, London, describes five portraits of identified figures. All five belonged to the courtier, politician and poet Sir Fulke Greville (1554-1628), 1st Baron Brooke, and were hung in the ‘Gallerie’ of Brooke House behind yellow curtains. One of them was described as being of ‘Lord of Pembrooke’, which is likely to have been William Herbert (1580-1630), 3rd Earl of Pembroke. William was the eldest son of Greville’s best friend’s sister Mary Sidney, and was brought up in the particularly literary and poetically orientated household which his mother had supported. Notably, the 3rd Earl was one of the figures that Shakespeare’s first folio was dedicated to in 1623. The melancholic air to the portrait corresponds to William’s own pretensions as a learned and poetic figure. The richness of the robe in the painting, sporting golden thread and a spotted black fabric, is indicative of wealth beyond that of a simple poet or actor. The portrait’s dating to around the year 1600 might have coincided with William’s father death and his own rise to the Pembroke Earldom. This period of his life too was imbued with personal sadness, as an illicit affair with a Mary Fitton had resulted in a pregnancy and eventual banishment by Elizabeth I to Wilton after a short spell in Fleet Prison. His illegitimate son died shortly after being born. Despite being a close follower of the Earl of Essex, William had side-stepped supporting Devereux in the fatal uprising against the Queen and eventually regained favour at the court of the next monarch James I. His linen shirt is edged with a delicate border of lace and his black cloak is lined on the inside with sumptuous scarlet and richly decorated on the outside with gold braid and a pattern of embroidered black spots. Despite the richness of his clothes, William Herbert has been presented in a dishevelled state of semi-undress, his shirt unlaced far down his chest with the ties lying limply over his hand, indicating that he is in a state of distracted detachment. It has been suggested that the fashion for melancholy was rooted in an increase in self-consciousness and introspective reflection during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In contemporary literature melancholy was said to be caused by a plenitude of the melancholy humor, one of the four vital humors, which were thought to regulate the functions of the body. An abundance of the melancholia humor was associated with a heightened creativity and intellectual ability and hence melancholy was linked to the notion of genius, as reflected in the work of the Oxford scholar Robert Burton, who in his work ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’, described the Malcontent as ‘of all others [the]… most witty, [who] causeth many times divine ravishment, and a kind of enthusiamus… which stirreth them up to be excellent Philosophers, Poets and Prophets.’ (R. Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, London, 1621 in R. Strong, ‘Elizabethan Malady: Melancholy in Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraits’, Apollo, LXXIX, 1964). Melancholy was viewed as a highly fashionable affliction under Elizabeth I, and her successor James I, and a dejected demeanour was adopted by wealthy young men, often presenting themselves as scholars or despondent lovers, as reflected in the portraiture and literature from this period. Although the sitter in this portrait is, as yet, unidentified, it seems probable that he was a nobleman with literary or artistic ambitions, following in the same vain as such famous figures as the aristocratic poet and dramatist, Edward de Vere...
Category

Early 17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

18th Century by Evangelista Schiano Saint Gennaro Oil on Canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Evangelista Schiano (attr.) (active in the 18th century) Title: Saint Gennaro Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 102 x 74 cm - with frame 126.5 x 100 cm 19th century car...
Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Canvas, Oil

Mother and Child 1920s - with Newcomb Macklin Giltwood Frame
By H. Willard Ortlip
Located in Soquel, CA
Excellent figurative painting of a mother and child by H. Willard Ortlip (American, 20th Century), 1927. Signature and date lower left "H. Willard Ortlip 1927." Presented in a giltwo...
Category

1920s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Linen, Stretcher Bars

Escuela española (Principios XIX) - Óleo sobre tela - Retrato del Papa Pio VII
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
La obra no va firmada El estado de conservación de la pintura es aceptable, solo comentar que la tela está reentelada Se presenta enmarcada la obra con un antiguo marco en madera p...
Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Saint Mark Evangelist Guercino Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Italy
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Workshop of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Il Guercino (Cento, 1591 - Bologna, 1666) Saint Mark the Evangelist Oil on canvas - 85 x 71 cm., Framed 100 x 86 cm. Of great cha...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Venus Cupid 17/18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master Venetian school
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Venetian painter of the 17th/18th century Venus and Cupid Oil on canvas 57 x 49 cm. In frame 71 x 61 cm. The painting captures the attention with its intimate and sensual re...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Madonna with Holy Child and St. John
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
Madonna with Holy Child and St. John is a masterful depiction of a tender religious scene, capturing the sacred relationship between the Virgin Mary, the infant Jesus, and St. John t...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

Portrait of a Woman in a red Dress - French Old Master art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This lovely French Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to the circle of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Painted circa 1810 it is a head and shoulders profile of a beautiful woman, resting her head on one hand. There is superb attention to detail and vibrant colouring. An excellent example of a French Old Master portrait of the period. Unsigned. Provenance. London estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 15 inches by 12 inches unframed and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt frame, 20 inches by 17 inches framed and in good condition. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the ascendant Romantic style. Although he considered himself a painter of history in the tradition of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, it is his portraits, both painted and drawn, that are recognized as his greatest legacy. His expressive distortions of form and space made him an important precursor of modern art, influencing Picasso, Matisse and other modernists. Born into a modest family in Montauban, he travelled to Paris to study in the studio of David. In 1802 he made his Salon debut, and won the Prix de Rome for his painting The Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the tent of Achilles. By the time he departed in 1806 for his residency in Rome, his style—revealing his close study of Italian and Flemish Renaissance masters—was fully developed, and would change little for the rest of his life. While working in Rome and subsequently Florence from 1806 to 1824, he regularly sent paintings to the Paris Salon, where they were faulted by critics who found his style bizarre and archaic. He received few commissions during this period for the history paintings he aspired to paint, but was able to support himself and his wife as a portrait painter and draughtsman. He was finally recognized at the Salon in 1824, when his Raphaelesque painting of the Vow of Louis XIII was met with acclaim, and Ingres was acknowledged as the leader of the Neoclassical school in France. Although the income from commissions for history paintings allowed him to paint fewer portraits, his Portrait of Monsieur...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait Gentleman Armor Carbone Van Dyck Paint Oil on canvas 17th Century Italy
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Giovanni Bernardo Carbone (Genoa, 1616 - 1683), workshop Portrait of a gentleman in armor with battle scene in the background Oil on oval canvas (117 x 105 cm. - In gilded frame 124...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th century portrait of Lady Sarah Cowper, Circle of Michael Dahl
By (Circle of) Michael Dahl
Located in York, GB
Portrait of Lady Sarah Cowper, nee Holled [1644-1720]-Circle of Michael Dahl (unsigned)17th century,Oil painting on canvas oval,bust-length . She has dar...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Dionysus Bacco Roman school 17th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Caravaggesque northern artist active in Rome in the 17th century, active in Rome in the 17th century. Workshop of Gerard van Honthorst (Utrecht, 1592 – Utrecht, 1656) Dionysus/Bacch...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Painting 19th Century Romantic Courtiers Genre Scene
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Courtiers Party in the Park in 18th Century In the Taste of Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) Oil on canvas Frame gilded with leaves Dim canvas : 73 X 59 cm Dim frame : 100 X 87 cm
Category

1850s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Óleo sobre tela - Retrato femenino - Año 1873
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Como pueden apreciar, la obra va firmada en la parte inferior y fechada del año 1873 Se presenta enmarcada la obra (el marco presenta algunas leves faltas) El estado de la obra es ...
Category

1870s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Flower Still-life Virgin Trevisani Stanchi Paint Oil on canvas 17/18th Century
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Flower garland with a portrait of the Virgin Francesco Trevisani (Capodistria 1656 - Rome 1746) and Niccolò Stanchi (Rome 1623 - 1690), attributable Oil on canvas 66 x 49 cm. - In f...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Lady in Mob Cap - British Old Master 18th century art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This charming British Old Master Regency pastel portrait is attributed to John Russell RA. Painted circa 1790 the composition is a blonde woman in pretty mob cap with a blue ribbon. A really lovely image. Provenance. Oxford estate. Condition. Oil pastel on paper, 23 inches by 19 inches unframed and in good condition but has line in paper in middle. Frame. Housed in a fine frame, 30 inches by 26 inches framed and in good condition. John Russell RA (1745-1806) was an English painter renowned for his portrait work in oils and pastels, and as a writer and teacher of painting techniques. Russell was born in Guildford, Surrey, the son of John Russell Snr., book and print seller and five times mayor of the town; his father was something of an artist, and drew and published two views of Guildford. Russell was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, and soon showed a strong inclination for art. He trained under Francis Cotes RA (of Cavendish Square, London), one of the pioneers of English pastel painting, and, like Cotes, was an admirer of the pastel drawings of Rosalba Carriera whose methods influenced his technique of "sweetening". At the age of 19 he converted to Methodism, which was the cause of tension with his family and with his teacher; he made no secret of his strong evangelical leanings and would attempt to preach and convert at every opportunity. Russell set up his own studio, in London, in 1767. He made the acquaintance of the notorious Dr. William Dodd, whose portrait he painted in 1768. He was introduced to Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, who unsuccessfully attempted to persuade him to give up painting and attend her Methodist ministers' training college at Trevecca in Wales. On 5 February 1770, he married Hannah Faden, daughter of a Charing Cross print and map seller...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

18th Century Circle of Jean-Étienne Liotard Portrait of a lady Oil on canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Circle of Jean-Étienne Liotard (Geneva, Switzerland, 1702 – 1789) Portrait of a lady Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 73 x 58 cm – with frame 87.8 x 73.7 x 4.5 cm Not ...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique oil paining, A laughing man with an upturned glass, Dutch golden age
Located in DEVENTER, NL
Anonymous, 18th century Inspired by a painting by Petrus Staverenus (1610/1612 – 1654-07-28/1664-07-28) from a series of Five Senses 'Taste: A laughing man...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of an Officer, Cornelius Johnson, 17th Century Old Masters
By Cornelius Johnson
Located in London, GB
Circle of Cornelius Johnson Circa 1620’s Portrait of a Officer Oil on canvas Image size: 28 x 24 inches Period style hand made frame Provenance Private European Estate This striking portrait dates to around 1620, as you can see from the images of the sash the detail is very high. The sash is decorated with gold thread and would have cost a small fortune at the time. Sashes were originally developed for a military function (making officers more visible for their men during combat), but soon became a primarily male fashion...
Category

Early 17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Joseph Highmore Portrait of a lady, 18th century
By Joseph Highmore
Located in York, GB
Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Grace Loftus,of Beverley hall yorkshire.Three-quarter-length, before a window. Dressed in blue and wearing a white bonnet. The paintin...
Category

1740s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

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 Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Oval Portrait of a Gentleman - French Old Master c1700 art oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This superb French Old Master oval portrait oil painting is attributed to circle of Nicolas de Largilliere. Painted circa 1700 it is a half length portrait of a gentleman in a red co...
Category

Early 1700s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Old Masters European Antique Oval Portrait of a Woman
By (After) Peter Paul Rubens
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful portrait of a young woman in the manner of Peter Paul Rubens. Oil on oval canvas measuring 12 7/8 x 16 inches. Unsigned. Canvas was originally painted for rectangular for...
Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

18th c. French Portrait of a Lady by Jean Ranc (1674 - 1735), Paris circa 1700
Located in PARIS, FR
Portrait of a Lady with carnations By Jean Ranc (Montpellier 1674 - Madrid 1735), circa 1700 Oil on canvas in oval shape, Dimensions: h. 35.82, w. 28.34 in. Period Louis XIV giltwood and carved frame with laurel leaves. Framed dimensions: h. 42.52 in, w. 33.85 in. Provenance: Collection of the Marquis de Bailleul at the Château d'Angerville-Bailleul (before 1942). To be included in the catalog raisonné of the artist by Stephane Perreau Important portrait of a young woman depicted half-length turned three-quarters, her face looking at the viewer. Dressed in a brick red velvet dress, an elegant blue scarf envelops her figure. Hair styled “a la Fontange”, her powdered hair is raised and tied at the back with a red ribbon, several curly locks escape from her bun and fall on her back and shoulders. The perfectly oval face with regular features dominated by her straight nose is softened by her gray eyes with slightly lowered lids. The red tinged skin tones on the cheeks and cheekbones color the face and make the portrait come alive. The young woman is portrayed standing near a pot of carnations. Her strongly lighted figure stands out against an architectural background of columns. The artist's palette is made of contrasts opposing warm to cold hues. The icy electric blue contrasts with the fiery brick red, the hair powdered with white accentuates even more the flush of the cheeks. The left arm bent at the elbow, extending the open hand with slightly bent fingers in the foreground brings depth to the composition. Our portrait, an interesting testimony in the corpus of works of the painter, is part of his youthful period, around 1700-1705. The former belonging of this portrait to the Marquis de Bailleul reinforces the remarkable character of our painting. The portrait has been examined by Stéphane Perreau, specialist of Jean Ranc and will be included in the catalog raisonné currently being written, under number P. 43. The notice edited by Mr Perreau is below: "Painted around 1700-1705, this portrait of a woman is directly inherited from Hyacinthe Rigaud, the master of Jean Ranc (the hand turned over the front, in a watch...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

English 17th century portrait of James Thynne as a young boy by a fountain
By Johann Kerseboom
Located in Bath, Somerset
Portrait of the Hon. James Thynne (c. 1680-1704), full-length, in the gardens of Longleat House, seated beside a fountain, holding a shell beneath water spouting from a horn blown by a cherub on a dolphin. A glimpse of part of Longleat House can be seen upper left. Oil on canvas in a period giltwood frame, decorated with leaves and acorns. C. 1682. Dimensions: 145 x 123cm (57 x 48in) in frame Provenance: Ex Longleat House, Wiltshire Private collection, Bath James Thynne was the youngest son of Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth and Frances Finch of Longleat House, Wiltshire. He died in his youth and his Aunt, Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720), wrote a moving poem on his death. He was buried in the family vault at Longbridge Deverill, Wiltshire. A mezzotint of this painting by William Faithorne the Younger is held in the Royal Collection. Johann Kerseboom (d.1708) was the nephew of Frederick Kerseboom and first worked in Germany before coming to England in the 1680's where his sitters included the 'Electress Sophia Dorothea' (known from a mezzotint by William Faithorne). His early works were influenced by William Wissing...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Madonna Virgin 17th Century Sassoferrato Paint Oil on canvas Old master Italy
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Giovanni Battista Salvi, known as Sassoferrato (Sassoferrato 1609 - Rome 1685) workshop/circle Praying Madonna Second half of the 17th century Oil on canvas (57 x 46, with fr...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Old Masters portrait paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters portrait 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. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including (After) Giampietrino, Henri-Joseph Castaing, Charles Towne, and Jean Alexandre Rémy Couder. 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 portrait paintings, so small editions measuring 4.53 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait 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 $695 and tops out at $339,912, while the average work sells for $4,791.

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