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Old Masters 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
Color:  Orange
Portrait Sibyl Lady Zanotti Paint Oil on canvas Old master 18th Century Italian
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Portrait of an Eritrean Sibyl who writes the prophecy Circle of Lorenzo Pasinelli (Bologna 1629 - 1700) - Attributable to Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti ...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

18th Century portrait oil painting of a girl with an orange
By Robert Byng
Located in Moreton-In-Marsh, Gloucestershire
Circle of Robert Byng British, (1666-1720) Girl with Orange Oil on canvas Image size: 29 inches x 24 inches Size including frame: 36 inches x 31 inc...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Flowers in a Vase
Located in Atlanta, GA
Painted in the style of the 17th century Dutch painter Alexander Andrienssen, this painting is of a glass vase on a wood surface filled with flowers. The artist's careful attention ...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Related Items
Fine 18th Century British Portrait of an Aristocratic Lady, Large oil painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Circle of Thomas Hudson (1701-1779) British. 18th Century Bust Portrait of a Lady, Oil on Canvas, Inscribed on a label verso, canvas: 30" x 25" (76.2 x 63.5cm). frame: 30 x 25 in...
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Mid-18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, 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 Paintings

Materials

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Italian 18th Century Oval Religious Oil on Canvas Painting with Saint Dominic
Located in Firenze, IT
This beautiful Italian 18th Century old masters oil painting on oval canvas with giltwood frame is attributed to Solimena and features a religious scene. In this splendid oval-shaped painting are depicted Saint Dominic...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Still Life of Fruit - Dutch 17th century art Old Master still life oil painting
By Jan Davidsz. de Heem
Located in London, GB
This stunning Dutch 17th century Old Master still life oil painting is attributed to the circle of Jan Davidsz de Heem. Painted circa 1660 it is a magnificent vibrant painting of gra...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

Still Life of Flowers in Ornamental Urn on Ledge - Dutch Old Master oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb vibrant Dutch 18th century Old Master floral oil painting is attributed to circle of Gerard Van Spaendonck. Painted circa 1790, it is a beautiful mixed floral still life flower arrangement in an ornate urn on a marble ledge against a landscape. The flowers include roses, tulips, blue iris and trailing blue morning glory. The carved ornate grey/blue urn on the cream marble ledge create a strong textural contrast with the soft petals and leaves. This is a wonderful example of Dutch 18th century floral oil paintings with fine detail and brushwork. Provenance. Private Collection, UK (by descent). Condition. Oil on canvas, 30 inches by 25 inches unframed and in good condition. Frame. Housed in an ebonised frame, 39 by 34 inches framed and in good condition. Gerard van Spaendonck (1746-1822) was a Dutch painter. Gerard was born in Tilburg, an older brother of Cornelis van Spaendonck...
Category

1790s Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

Still Life with Squash, Gourds, Stoneware, and a Basket with Fruit and Cheese
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Selma Herringman, New York, ca. 1955-2013; thence by descent to: Private Collection, New York, 2013-2020 This seventeenth century Spanish still-life of a laden table, known as a bodegón, stands out for its dramatic lighting and for the detailed description of each object. The artist’s confident use of chiaroscuro enables the sliced-open squash in the left foreground to appear as if emerging out of the darkness and projecting towards the viewer. The light source emanates from the upper left, illuminating the array, and its strength is made apparent by the reflections on the pitcher, pot, and the fruit in the basket. Visible brush strokes accentuate the vegetables’ rough surfaces and delicate interiors. Although the painter of this striking work remains unknown, it is a characteristic example of the pioneering Spanish still-lifes of the baroque period, which brought inanimate objects alive on canvas. In our painting, the knife and the large yellow squash boldly protrude off the table. Balancing objects on the edge of a table was a clever way for still-life painters to emphasize the three-dimensionality of the objects depicted, as well a way to lend a sense of drama to an otherwise static image. The knife here teeters on the edge, appearing as if it might fall off the table and out of the painting at any moment. The shape and consistency of the squash at left is brilliantly conveyed through the light brush strokes that define the vegetable’s fleshy and feathery interior. The smaller gourds—gathered together in a pile—are shrouded partly in darkness and stand out for their rugged, bumpy exterior. The stoneware has a brassy glaze, and the earthy tones of the vessels are carefully modulated by their interaction with the light and shadow that falls across them. The artist has cleverly arranged the still-life in a V-shaped composition, with a triangular slice of cheese standing upright, serving as its pinnacle. Independent still-lifes only became an important pictorial genre in the first years of the seventeenth century. In Italy, and particularly through the revolutionary works of Caravaggio, painted objects became carriers of meaning, and their depiction and arrangement the province of serious artistic scrutiny. Caravaggio famously asserted that it was equally difficult to paint a still-life as it was to paint figures, and the elevation of this new art form would have profound consequences to the present day. In Spain Juan Sanchez Cotan...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique British Oil Painting Portrait of William Shakespeare Fine Oil on Canvas
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of William Shakespeare British artist, 18th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 24 x 18 inches provenance: private collection, England condition: very good and sound con...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

PORTRAIT OF A GENTLMEN - French School -Portrait Italian Oil on Canvas Painting
Located in Napoli, IT
Portrait of a Gentlemen - Oval oil on canvas cm.50x40, Italia, 2006 Eugenio De Blasi Wooden frame available on request The portrait of Eugenio De Blasi is inspired by one of the many portraits painted by Guillam Francois Colson, a French historian painter, who painted portraits of families...
Category

Early 2000s Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in New York, NY
Circle of Jacques-Louis David (French, 18th Century) Provenance: Private Collection, Buenos Aires Exhibited: “Art of Collecting,” Flint Institute of Art, Flint, Michigan, 23 November 2018 – 6 January 2019. This vibrant portrait of young man was traditionally considered a work by Jacques-Louis David, whose style it recalls, but to whom it cannot be convincingly attributed. Rather, it would appear to be by a painter in his immediate following—an artist likely working in France in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Several names have been proposed as the portrait’s author: François Gérard, Louis Hersent, Anne-Louis Girodet (Fig. 1), Theodore Gericault, and Jean-Baptiste Wicar, among others. Some have thought the artist Italian, and have proposed Andrea Appiani, Gaspare Landi...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman
Portrait of a Gentleman
H 17.125 in W 13.75 in
18th century antique portrait Edmund Hoyle Circle of James Latham, Edmund Hoyle,
Located in York, GB
18th century Bust portrait of a gentleman in a blue coat with gold buttons (Said to be Edmund Hoyle, inventor of Whist) circle of James Latham. Housed in a gilt frame the size overall is 71 x 84 cm (28 x 33 inches approx) whilst the painting is 56 x 69 cm ( 22 x 27 inches approx) The overall condition is very good having had some restoration. The painting has been relined, cleaned and re varnished. There has been some strengthening/overpainting. There is a Rectangular patch repair along lower edge, centre, reverse approximately 5 x 7cm with associated retouching to front,all essentially done sympathetically. some fine stable craquelure throughout. Some minor self coloured losses to frame. None of the above detracting from a very attractive portrait. Edmond Hoyle Edmond Hoyle English card game authority, "the Father of whist" Born 1672 England Died 29 August 1769 (aged 96–97) London, England Edmond Hoyle (1672 – 29 August 1769)[1] was a writer best known for his works on the rules and play of card games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" came into the language as a reflection of his generally perceived authority on the subject James Latham James Latham was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland and possibly related to the family of Lathams of Meldrum and Ballysheehan. After some practice of his art, Latham studied for an academic year in Antwerp (1724–25) where he became a Master of the Guild of St Luke. He returned to Dublin by 1725, and may have visited England in the 1740s, as the influence of Joseph Highmore, as well as Charles Jervas and William Hogarth, is evident in his work of this period. Anthony Pasquin memorably dubbed Latham "Ireland's Van Dyck". Latham died in Dublin on 26 January 1747. Several of James Latham's portraits are in the National Gallery of Ireland collection in Dublin; one is of the famous MP Charles Tottenham (1694–1758) of New Ross, Co. Wexford, "Tottenham in his Boots" (Cat. No.411) and a second is a portrait of Bishop...
Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady with a Chiqueador
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Torres Family Collection, Asunción, Paraguay, ca. 1967-2017 While the genre of portraiture flourished in the New World, very few examples of early Spanish colonial portraits have survived to the present day. This remarkable painting is a rare example of female portraiture, depicting a member of the highest echelons of society in Cuzco during the last quarter of the 17th century. Its most distinctive feature is the false beauty mark (called a chiqueador) that the sitter wears on her left temple. Chiqueadores served both a cosmetic and medicinal function. In addition to beautifying their wearers, these silk or velvet pouches often contained medicinal herbs thought to cure headaches. This painting depicts an unidentified lady from the Creole elite in Cuzco. Her formal posture and black costume are both typical of the established conventions of period portraiture and in line with the severe fashion of the Spanish court under the reign of Charles II, which remained current until the 18th century. She is shown in three-quarter profile, her long braids tied with soft pink bows and decorated with quatrefoil flowers, likely made of silver. Her facial features are idealized and rendered with great subtly, particularly in the rosy cheeks. While this portrait lacks the conventional coat of arms or cartouche that identifies the sitter, her high status is made clear by the wealth of jewels and luxury materials present in the painting. She is placed in an interior, set off against the red velvet curtain tied in the middle with a knot on her right, and the table covered with gold-trimmed red velvet cloth at the left. The sitter wears a four-tier pearl necklace with a knot in the center with matching three-tiered pearl bracelets and a cross-shaped earing with three increasingly large pearls. She also has several gold and silver rings on both hands—one holds a pair of silver gloves with red lining and the other is posed on a golden metal box, possibly a jewelry box. The materials of her costume are also of the highest quality, particularly the white lace trim of her wide neckline and circular cuffs. The historical moment in which this painting was produced was particularly rich in commissions of this kind. Following his arrival in Cuzco from Spain in the early 1670’s, bishop Manuel de Mollinedo y Angulo actively promoted the emergence of a distinctive regional school of painting in the city. Additionally, with the increase of wealth and economic prosperity in the New World, portraits quickly became a way for the growing elite class to celebrate their place in society and to preserve their memory. Portraits like this one would have been prominently displayed in a family’s home, perhaps in a dynastic portrait gallery. We are grateful to Professor Luis Eduardo Wuffarden for his assistance cataloguing this painting on the basis of high-resolution images. He has written that “the sober palette of the canvas, the quality of the pigments, the degree of aging, and the craquelure pattern on the painting layer confirm it to be an authentic and representative work of the Cuzco school of painting...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

RED GRAPES, RED WINE
Located in Santa Fe, NM
RED GRAPES, RED WINE Aleksei Kreydun studied the Old Masters and has revived their long lost techniques, building up multiple layers of oil paint and lacque...
Category

Early 2000s Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

RED GRAPES, RED WINE
RED GRAPES, RED WINE
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H 15 in W 9 in D 2 in

Old Masters paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters 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 paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, blue, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Antonio Savisio, Pietro Colonna, Goyo Dominguez, and Nicolaes Maes. 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 4.5 inches across are also available. Prices for 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 $338 and tops out at $1,495,000, while the average work sells for $7,505.

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