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Old Masters Art

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
Madonna with Holy Child and St. John, 17th Century Oil on Wood
Madonna with Holy Child and St. John, 17th Century Oil on Wood

Madonna with Holy Child and St. John, 17th Century Oil on Wood, 17th Century

$28,000

Madonna with Holy Child and St. John, 17th Century Oil on Wood

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 Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

Early 19th Century Portrait "Countess Margaret Spencer"
Early 19th Century Portrait "Countess Margaret Spencer"

John Hoppner, R.A.Early 19th Century Portrait "Countess Margaret Spencer", Unknown

$12,500

Early 19th Century Portrait "Countess Margaret Spencer"

Located in San Francisco, CA

JOHN HOPPNER R.A. (British, 1758–1810), "Countess Margaret Spencer," oil on canvas, canvas (relined): 36" x 28", overall (framed): 35" x 43". John Hoppner, R.A. plaque mounted cente...

Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

18th Century Seascapes Francesco Fidanza Landscape Waves Sun oil on Canvas Blue
18th Century Seascapes Francesco Fidanza Landscape Waves Sun oil on Canvas Blue

Francesco Fidanza18th Century Seascapes Francesco Fidanza Landscape Waves Sun oil on Canvas Blue

$29,480

18th Century Seascapes Francesco Fidanza Landscape Waves Sun oil on Canvas Blue

By Francesco Fidanza

Located in Sanremo, IT

Pair of paintings, oil on canvas, measuring 80 x 100 cm without frame and90 x 110 cm with coeval frame, depicting a stormy navy and a navy atdawn by the painter Francesco Fidanza (Ro...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Putorius & Pseudo Phalangium (The Pole-Cat) (Skunk) /// Mark Catesby Animal Art
Putorius & Pseudo Phalangium (The Pole-Cat) (Skunk) /// Mark Catesby Animal Art

Mark CatesbyPutorius & Pseudo Phalangium (The Pole-Cat) (Skunk) /// Mark Catesby Animal Art, 1771-1810

$480Sale Price|20% Off

Putorius & Pseudo Phalangium (The Pole-Cat) (Skunk) /// Mark Catesby Animal Art

By Mark Catesby

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Mark Catesby (English, 1638-1749) Title: "Putorius & Pseudo Phalangium (The Pole-Cat) (Skunk)" (Plate/Tab 62) Portfolio: Natural History of Carolina, Florida & the Ba...

Category

1770s Old Masters Art

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Etching, Intaglio

Animal Figures for Antiquities - Original Etching - Mid-18th Century

Animal Figures for Antiquities - Original Etching - Mid-18th Century, Mid-18th Century

$353

Animal Figures for Antiquities - Original Etching - Mid-18th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Animal Figures for the Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed, original etching from the mid-18th century, made by Various Old Masters. In very good condition, except for some stains al...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Fine 1700's Dutch Old Master Oil on Panel Painting Kitchen Interior Fish Seller
Fine 1700's Dutch Old Master Oil on Panel Painting Kitchen Interior Fish Seller

Willem Van MierisFine 1700's Dutch Old Master Oil on Panel Painting Kitchen Interior Fish Seller, c. 1720

$4,472

Fine 1700's Dutch Old Master Oil on Panel Painting Kitchen Interior Fish Seller

By Willem Van Mieris

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Fish Seller Dutch School, circa 1720's circle of Willem van Mieris (Dutch 1662-1747), unsigned oil painting on partially cradled panel, presented in antique gilt frame panel: 15...

Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

17th Century by Il Padovanino Pair of putti Oil on canvas
17th Century by Il Padovanino Pair of putti Oil on canvas

Il Padovanino17th Century by Il Padovanino Pair of putti Oil on canvas, 17th Century

$21,037Sale Price|20% Off

17th Century by Il Padovanino Pair of putti Oil on canvas

By Il Padovanino

Located in Milano, Lombardia

Alessandro Leone Varotari, detto il Padovanino (Padua, Italy, 1588 - Venice, Italy, 1649) Title: Pair of putti Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 83 × 66 cm – with frame...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life
Still Life

Johann Rudolf Feyerabend, called Lelong Still Life, 1800c

$3,537

Still Life

Located in Edinburgh, GB

This drawing by Johann Rudolf Feyerabend, known as Lelong, is a finely executed still life that captures a rustic yet elegant composition. The detailed rendering of objects—such as t...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Rebecca at the Well

Master of the Apollo and Daphne LegendRebecca at the Well, ca. 1500

$45,000

Rebecca at the Well

Located in New York, NY

Provenance: Dr. James Henry Lancashire, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, by 1925; probably by descent to: Private Collection, Cumberland Foreside, Maine, until 2018 This unpublished panel is a characteristic work of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend, an anonymous Florentine painter in the circle of Bartolommeo di Giovanni, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Sandro Botticelli. The artistic personality of the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend was independently recognized by Everett Fahy and Federico Zeri at roughly the same moment in time. Fahy originally dubbed this artist the Master of the Ryerson Panels but later adopted Zeri’s name for the artist, which derives from his eponymous works from the Samuel H. Kress collection (Figs. 1-2). Fahy posited that the artist was most likely a pupil of Ghirlandaio active from roughly 1480 to 1510, and that he may be identifiable with one of Ghirlandaio’s documented pupils to whom no works have been securely attributed, such as Niccolò Cieco, Jacopo dell’Indaco, or Baldino Baldinetti. The present painting was first attributed to this master by Everett Fahy in 1989, who became aware of its existence only after publishing his definitive studies on the artist. The surviving body of work by the Master of the Apollo and Daphne Legend is largely composed of series of panels treating the same theme. In addition to the works illustrating the legend of Apollo and Daphne, there are also series on the themes of Susanna and the Elders and the story of Saint Joseph, among others. The subject of the present panel is drawn from Genesis 24, the story of Isaac. It is possible that our painting relates to another work by the artist depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac formerly in the collection of E. A. McGuire in Dublin, Ireland (Fig. 3), and that these two panels were originally part of a decorative scheme based on the story of Isaac. Although the Master’s paintings of this type have traditionally been considered painted fronts of wedding chests, known as cassoni, the scale of these paintings and the fact that they are often part of a series indicates that they are more likely spalliera panels—paintings set into furniture or the wainscoting of a room. The biblical episode depicted in this painting centers on the theme of marriage, which suggests that this work was likely commissioned for the domestic interior of a newly married couple. The Master has transcribed into paint even the minute details of this Old Testament story, in which Abraham sends a servant to travel by camel to the land of his father and seek out a wife for his son Isaac. The servant is here shown at the well...

Category

15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil, Tempera, Wood Panel

The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist

Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist

$50,117

The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist

By Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

Located in Paris, Île-de-France

STUDIO OF RAFFAELLO SANZIO, called RAPHAEL (Urbino 1483 – Rome 1520) Title The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist Medium Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black ch...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Ink

Joseph Highmore Portrait of a lady, 18th century
Joseph Highmore Portrait of a lady, 18th century

Joseph HighmoreJoseph Highmore Portrait of a lady, 18th century, 1745

$13,041Sale Price|50% Off

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 Art

Materials

Oil

Holy Family Ramenghi Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Religious Art
Holy Family Ramenghi Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Religious Art

Giovanni Battista Ramenghi, known as Bagnacavallo (Bologna, 1521 - 1601)Holy Family Ramenghi Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Religious Art, 1600-1630

$8,094Sale Price|20% Off

Holy Family Ramenghi Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Religious Art

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

Bolognese school of the seventeenth century Circle Giovanni Battista Ramenghi, known as Bagnacavallo (Bologna, 1521 - 1601) Oil painting on canvas (86 x 72 cm. - With antique frame ...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Child Jesus Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Baby Italian Religious
Child Jesus Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Baby Italian Religious

Lombard painter active in the 17th centuryChild Jesus Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Baby Italian Religious, 1600-1699

$5,273Sale Price|20% Off

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 Art

Materials

Oil

Ancient Roman Statue - Original Etching - 18th Century

Ancient Roman Statue - Original Etching - 18th Century, Late 18th Century

$589

Ancient Roman Statue - Original Etching - 18th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Ancient Roman Statue, original etching from the end of the 18th century, made by Various Old Masters. Good condition. Units of measurements typical of the period in the lower cent...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Wedding and Divorce among the Canadians - by G. Pivati - 1746-1751

Gianfrancesco PivatiWedding and Divorce among the Canadians - by G. Pivati - 1746-1751, 1746-1751

$283

Wedding and Divorce among the Canadians - by G. Pivati - 1746-1751

By Gianfrancesco Pivati

Located in Roma, IT

Wedding and Divorce among the Canadians Etchings, Hand-Watercoloured. Tom.VIII , Plate LII Image Dim: cm 25.5 x 18; Sheet Dim: cm 37.5 x 23.8; Passepartout Dim: cm 49 x 34 Very fine Etching, Hand-watercoloured, showing the nuptial ceremony and the divorse among the Canadian indigenouses...

Category

1740s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Human Heads from Ancient Rome - Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Human Heads from Ancient Rome - Etching by Various Masters - 1750s, 1750s

$266

Human Heads from Ancient Rome - Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Located in Roma, IT

Human heads from Ancient Rome, from the Series "Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed", original etching from the end of the 18th Century, made by Various Old Masters.. In very good co...

Category

1750s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Portrait of a Lady with a Blue Bow - British 18thC art Old Master oil painting
Portrait of a Lady with a Blue Bow - British 18thC art Old Master oil painting

Matthew William PetersPortrait of a Lady with a Blue Bow - British 18thC art Old Master oil painting, Circa 1780

$8,531

Portrait of a Lady with a Blue Bow - British 18thC art Old Master oil painting

Located in Hagley, England

This superb British 18th century Old Master portrait oil painting is attributed to Matthew William Peters. Painted circa 1780 it is a fine half length portrait of a woman gazing to her left. She has a lovely blue bow and sash on her dress. The sympathetic detail in her face is sublime. A really wonderful 18th century Old Master portrait. Matthew William Peters was known for his late 18th century portraits which had both the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Provenance. Lincolnshire estate. Condition. Oil on canvas 30 inches by 25 inches unframed and in good condition. Has has restoration. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt carved swept period frame, 40 inches by 35 inches framed and in good condition. Matthew William Peters (1742-1814) was an English portrait and genre painter who later became an Anglican clergyman and chaplain to George IV. He became known as "William" when he started signing his works as "W. Peters". Peters was born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, the son of Matthew Peters (born at Belfast, 1711), a civil engineer and member of the Royal Dublin Society; by Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of George Younge of Dublin. The family moved from England to Dublin when Peters was young. Peters received his artistic training from Robert West in Dublin; in 1756 and 1758 he received prizes from the first School of Design in Dublin. In 1759, he was sent by the Dublin Society to London to become a student of Thomas Hudson and won a premium from the Society of Arts. The group also paid for him to travel to Italy to study art from 1761 to 1765. On 23 September 1762 he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno in Florence. Peters returned to England in 1765 and exhibited works at the Society of Artists from 1766 to 1769. Beginning in 1769, Peters exhibited works at the Royal Academy. In 1771 he was elected an associate and in 1777 an academician. He returned to Italy in 1771 and stayed until 1775. He also probably traveled to Paris in 1783–84, where he met Léopold Boilly, Antoine Vestier, and was influenced by the work of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. On 27 February 1769, Peters became a freemason, and he was made the grand portrait painter of the Freemasons and the first provincial grand master of Lincolnshire in 1792. In 1785, he exhibited portraits of the Duke of Manchester and Lord Petre as Grand Master at the Royal Academy exhibition. According to Robin Simon's article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, no British contemporary had such an Italian manner of painting as Peters, reflecting the old masters he copied. Many of Peters' works were erotic and although these works did not damage his career, according to Simon, Peters later regretted these when he became an ordained clergyman in 1781. He served as the Royal Academy's chaplain from 1784 to 1788, at which time he resigned to become chaplain to the Prince of Wales. In 1784, Peters was awarded the living of Scalford, Leicestershire by Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. In 1788, the Dowager Duchess gave him the living at Knipton, at which time he also obtained that at Woolsthorpe. These livings were near to Belvoir Castle...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Susanna Old Men Religious Roma nschool 17th Century Paint Oiul on canvas Italy
Susanna Old Men Religious Roma nschool 17th Century Paint Oiul on canvas Italy

Painter active in Rome in the early 17th centurySusanna Old Men Religious Roma nschool 17th Century Paint Oiul on canvas Italy, 1600-1650

$9,688Sale Price|20% Off

Susanna Old Men Religious Roma nschool 17th Century Paint Oiul on canvas Italy

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

Painter active in Rome in the early 17th century Susanna and the Old Men Oil on canvas 76 x 62 cm. with frame 92 x 78 cm. This valuable painting illustrates the piquant episode, ta...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Old Masters art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters art 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 art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, yellow, blue and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Charles Amand Durand, Giuseppe Vasi, Thomas Holloway, and Vincenzo Campana. Frequently made by artists working with Etching, and 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 art, so small editions measuring 0.4 inches across are also available. Prices for art 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 $11 and tops out at $1,495,000, while the average work sells for $546.

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