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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
Ecce Homo Coxie Paint 16/17th Century Paint Oil on table Old master Flemish Art
Ecce Homo Coxie Paint 16/17th Century Paint Oil on table Old master Flemish Art

Ecce Homo Coxie Paint 16/17th Century Paint Oil on table Old master Flemish Art

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

Circle of Michael Coxie (Malines, 1499 - Malines, 1592) Ecce Homo with Pontius Pilate Oil on panel Flemish school 16th-17th century 112 x 81 cm - framed 121 x 90 cm. The proposed p...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Saint Cecilia Angels De La Haye Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master
Saint Cecilia Angels De La Haye Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master

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 Art

Materials

Oil

Albert de Mayence, Heliogravure by Albrecht Dürer

Albert de Mayence, Heliogravure by Albrecht Dürer

By Albrecht Dürer

Located in Long Island City, NY

Albrecht Durer, After by Amand Durand, German (1471 - 1528) - Albert de Mayence, Year: 1873, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 7.5 x 5.5 in. (19.05 x 13.97 cm), Printer: Amand Durand, ...

Category

Late 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Portrait of Lady in Mob Cap - British Old Master 18th century art oil painting
Portrait of Lady in Mob Cap - British Old Master 18th century art oil painting

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 Art

Materials

Oil

Antiquities of Herculaneum -  Letter L - Etching  - 18th Century

Antiquities of Herculaneum - Letter L - Etching - 18th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Antiquities of Herculaneum - Letter of the Alphabet L, from the series "Antiquities of Herculaneum", is an original etching on paper realized in the 18th century. Good conditions ...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Chiesa del Gesù di Roma - Etching by Giovambattista Falda - 1665

Chiesa del Gesù di Roma - Etching by Giovambattista Falda - 1665

Located in Roma, IT

Chiesa del Gesù di Roma is an original etching artwork, realized by Giovambattista Falda, at the bottom, just below the image, the inscription in Italian "Chiesa dedicata al nome di Giesù de padri giesuiti nel rione della pigna - la facciata Architettura di Giacomo...

Category

1660s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Flowers Still-life Scacciati 17th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master (2/3)
Flowers Still-life Scacciati 17th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master (2/3)

Flowers Still-life Scacciati 17th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master (2/3)

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

Andrea Scacciati (Florence 1642-1710) Composition of flowers within embossed vase (2 of 3) oil on canvas 130 x 90 cm In antique frame 145 x 105 cm. Work with expertise by Prof. Emi...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Woman, 17th Century Oil on canvas, Italian
Portrait of a Woman, 17th Century Oil on canvas, Italian

Portrait of a Woman, 17th Century Oil on canvas, Italian

Located in Stockholm, Stockholm

Portrait of an Italian young woman in half length against a dark background executed with great softness and psychological subtlety. Her head inclines gently downward, her gaze withd...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Hague - Le Fameux Vivier de la Haye -  Etching - 18th Century
The Hague - Le Fameux Vivier de la Haye -  Etching - 18th Century

The Hague - Le Fameux Vivier de la Haye - Etching - 18th Century

Located in Roma, IT

The Hague - Le fameux Vivier de la Haye is an original print realized on peep-leaf in the 18th century. A beautiful watercolored etching (on copper plaque) sold at the time by Daumi...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Abraham Francen, Apothecary - Old Masters Heliogravure by Rembrandt van Rijn

Abraham Francen, Apothecary - Old Masters Heliogravure by Rembrandt van Rijn

By Rembrandt van Rijn

Located in Long Island City, NY

Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - Abraham Francen, Apothecary (B273), Year: 1878 (of original 1657), Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 6.25 x 8.25 ...

Category

Late 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Animal Figures from Ancient Rome - Original Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Animal Figures from Ancient Rome - Original Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Located in Roma, IT

Animal Figures from Ancient Rome, from the Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed is an original etching from the end of the 18th Century, made by Various Old Masters. In very good cond...

Category

1750s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Bacchanal
Bacchanal

Bacchanal

By Giovanni Andrea Podestà

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Bacchanal Etching, 1649 Inscribed in the square left: "Magnificentis/simo Principi/Paolo lorda/no. II Bracci/ani Duci/Aud. P.DDD/1640; Inscribed on right: Rome apud Franciscsum Saluucium Condition: Usual centerfolds from paper manufacture Plate: 10 3/8 x 15 1/2" Sheet: 11 1/2 x 16 1/2"; References: Bartsch XX.4 Sopher Plate 145 An impression of this image is in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Washington An exceptionally rich impression in excellent condition. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Putti as Allegory of Music Giovanni Andrea Podestà or Giovanni Andrea Podesta (1608 - c. 1674) was an Italian painter and engraver who was principally active in Rome. His principal subject matter is children playing in landscapes with classical objects. His works show the influence of Poussin's Arcadian landscapes and bacchanals, which were ultimately derived from Titian's bacchanals. Life Giovanni Andrea Podestà was born in Genoa. He was formed in Genoa with Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari and Domenico Fiasella according to the information provided by the contemporary Genoese biographer Raffaele Soprani. He is also recorded as an apprentice of Giovanni Battista Paggi in 1627. His presence is documented from in 1634 in Rome where he made drawings after the statues and ancient reliefs at the famous Giustiniani collection. These were subsequently engraved for publication in the 'Galleria Giustiniani'. The artist's career ran a course similar to that of the young Domenico Fiasella. In Rome his art evolved in contact with the works of Poussin, Andrea di Leone, Pietro Testa...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

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

Human Heads from Ancient Rome - Original 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 con...

Category

1750s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Ancient Roman Statue - Original Etching  - 18th Century

Ancient Roman Statue - Original Etching - 18th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Ancient Roman Statue, from the series "Antiquities of Herculaneum", is an original etching on paper realized by Anonymous artist in the 18th century. Signed on the plate on the lower...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

17th Century By Giuseppe Caletti The Court Jester From Dosso Dossi Oil on Canvas
17th Century By Giuseppe Caletti The Court Jester From Dosso Dossi Oil on Canvas

17th Century By Giuseppe Caletti The Court Jester From Dosso Dossi Oil on Canvas

Located in Milano, Lombardia

Giuseppe Caletti (active until around 1660) Title: The Court Jester from Dosso Dossi Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 172 × 136 cm Beautiful original frame in carved a...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Animal Figures from Ancient Rome - Original Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Animal Figures from Ancient Rome - Original Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Located in Roma, IT

Animal Figures from Ancient Rome, from the Series "The Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed", is anoriginal etching from the end of the 18th century, made by Various Old Masters. In v...

Category

1750s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Frame from Ancient Rome - Original Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Frame from Ancient Rome - Original Etching by Various Masters - 1750s

Located in Roma, IT

Frame from Ancient Rome, from the Series "Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed", is an original etching from the end of the 18th century, made by Various Old Masters. In very good con...

Category

1750s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

17th century etching black and white landscape scene forest trees figures sky
17th century etching black and white landscape scene forest trees figures sky

17th century etching black and white landscape scene forest trees figures sky

By Claude Lorrain

Located in Milwaukee, WI

"Le Temps, Apollon, et les Saisons (Time, Apollo, and the Seasons)" is an etching by Claude Gellée (Le Lorrain). This etching is the Fifth state (A). This state is also in collections in Paris (BN, L, PP) and Washington; Mannocci cat. no. 43. The inscription reads: "Apollo in atto di obedire al tempo. La Primavera a cominciare il ballo. Lestate no manca del suo calore. L'aurunno colsuo licore / Seguita. Linvernno tiene la sua staggione, Claudio Gillee inven.Fec.Roma 1662 con licenza de super." A powerful example of Claude's staging of landscape in the classical manner is the etching "Time, Apollo, and the Seasons," done in 1662 after Poussin's painting of 1624-1636, "Dance to the Music of Time...

Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Portrait of a Lady - Old Master British early 19thC oil painting woman bonnet
Portrait of a Lady - Old Master British early 19thC oil painting woman bonnet

Portrait of a Lady - Old Master British early 19thC oil painting woman bonnet

By Thomas Lawrence (circle)

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 Art

Materials

Oil

Rare Jacobean Portrait on Panel Lady Elizabeth Wheeler née Cole 1623 Historical
Rare Jacobean Portrait on Panel Lady Elizabeth Wheeler née Cole 1623 Historical

Rare Jacobean Portrait on Panel Lady Elizabeth Wheeler née Cole 1623 Historical

By Cornelius Johnson

Located in London, GB

A Rare Jacobean Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Wheeler (née Cole), 1623 Attributed to Cornelius Johnson (1593–1661) This remarkably rare early oil on panel, presented by Titan Fine Art, has emerged as far more than an anonymous “Portrait of a Lady.” Preserved in outstanding condition—its surface retaining exceptional clarity in the lace and textiles—it has only recently been reunited with the identity of its sitter: Elizabeth Cole (1607–1670), later Lady Elizabeth Wheeler, a Westminster gentlewoman whose later life brought her into intimate royal service as laundress for His Majesty’s person. That combination—high quality, uncommon survival, a newly identified sitter, and a life that intersects directly with the last acts of Charles I—places this portrait in a category of genuine rarity. It is not simply a beautiful Jacobean likeness; it is a rediscovered historical document - legible and compelling. The sitter is presented half-length against a dark ground, enclosed within a painted sculpted oval surround that functions like an architectural frame. This device, fashionable in the 1620s, concentrates the viewer’s attention and heightens the sense of social presentation: the sitter appears both physically and symbolically “set apart,” as if viewed through a refined aperture. The portrait’s immediate power, however, lies in the costume—an ensemble of striking modernity for c. 1623 and rendered with a precision that survives with remarkable crispness. She wears a deep green gown—a fitted overgown with open sleeves—over a finely embroidered linen jacket (a stiffened bodice/waistcoat garment). The sleeves form pronounced “wings” at the shoulder, a structurally assertive fashion detail of the early 1620s that enlarges the silhouette and signals sophistication. Beneath the green overlayer, the white linen jacket is richly ornamented in gilt embroidery. The goldwork is arranged as scrolling foliate forms—looping, curling tendrils punctuated by seed-like stippling—organised into balanced compartments across the bodice and sleeves. The motifs read as stylised botanical forms with rounded fruit-like terminals and leaf elements: not literal naturalism, but controlled abundance. The technique is described with extraordinary intelligence, mimicking couched metallic thread through patterned, “stitched” marks, while tiny dots and short dashes create a lively tactile shimmer. This embroidered jacket sits above a newly fashionable high-waisted, sheer apron or overskirt. The translucent fabric falls in soft vertical folds and is articulated with narrow lace-edged bands, giving the skirt a crisp rhythm of alternating sheer and patterned strips. At the neck, a fine ruff frames the face: a disciplined structure of pleated linen finished with delicate lace. Draped diagonally across the torso are long gold chains, painted to suggest weight and metallic gleam; they function both as ornament and as a further signifier of status. The cumulative effect is controlled luxury: she is not overloaded with jewels, but clothed in textiles whose cost and craftsmanship speak unmistakably. The recent sitter’s identification rests on heraldic and genealogical analysis: the arms shown on the painting correspond to those recorded for several families in armorial sources, but when the lines of descent are tested against survival and chronology, the viable bearer by 1623 resolves to Cole, and—crucially—to the London branch. That resolution matters because it anchors the portrait to a very specific social world: London/Westminster civic gentry and Crown administration, the milieu in which portraiture served as both self-fashioning and social instrument. The recent identification of the sitter (the London Cole branch of the family) is not merely genealogical; it has direct implications for authorship. A London-based mercantile or civic-gentry family would have ready access to leading immigrant artists, familiarity with heraldic display conventions, and the means to commission oil on panel, still standard among Netherlandish-trained painters. In that context, the portrait’s age inscription and date become especially revealing. The painting states the sitter to be nineteen years of age. Yet Elizabeth Cole’s birth in 1607 suggests she would be younger if the portrait is dated as early as 1623. The key insight is that the “incorrect” age is best understood not as a mistake but as a deliberate social adjustment, a performative statement rather than a documentary one. The most persuasive explanation is strategic. Portraits of high-status unmarried women were frequently made in connection with marriage negotiations. In the early 1620s, Elizabeth’s future husband, William Wheeler, was resident abroad at Middelburg in Zeeland in the Dutch Republic. If a portrait was intended to support or facilitate a match with an educated, ambitious man—“a man of learning and letters,” —then presenting a seventeen-year-old as nineteen would subtly reposition her as more mature and more nearly a peer in age, Wheeler being around twenty-two. The portrait thus becomes an instrument of alliance, not merely a likeness: an image designed to persuade, reassure, and elevate. This reading aligns perfectly with the period’s wider conditions. The early 1620s in England were charged with anxiety and expectation: James I’s later reign was marked by court faction, diplomatic tension, and the pressures of European conflict. The so-called “art market” was inseparable from these dynamics. Portraiture flourished because it served multiple functions: it fixed lineage, advertised alliance, signalled readiness for marriage, and projected the stability of elite households in an uncertain world. For Westminster families whose power came through office, portraiture was also a declaration of belonging—proof that administrative elites possessed the cultural polish traditionally associated with older aristocratic rank. Elizabeth’s later life vindicates the portrait’s impression of steadiness. Although no record survives of her marriage ceremony to William Wheeler, wills suggest she had married him by the mid-1630s, and there are strong grounds—consistent with the portrait’s implications—for a union already in place by the early 1630s, possibly earlier. Wheeler himself rose rapidly. By 1639 he held a manor at Westbury Leigh in Wiltshire and sought letters of denization due to overseas birth, enabling him to stand as Member of Parliament for Westbury. He leased the principal manor of Westbury the following year, coinciding with his election. In government service he became Remembrancer of the Exchequer and held office across regime change, a testament to administrative skill and political pragmatism. It is Elizabeth, however, who makes this portrait exceptional. She became laundress for His Majesty’s person, responsible for the washing and oversight of the King’s personal linen—an office that, despite its domestic description, required unusual trust, discretion, and access. Her role becomes visible in 1643 when she was granted a warrant signed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to follow the King to Oxford with her servant after the outbreak of the Civil War. She continued to serve during the King’s captivity after 1646, and at Carisbrooke Castle in 1647 she and her maid were implicated in smuggling secret correspondence to and from Charles I, in service of escape plans. After the King’s failed attempt to escape in March 1648, she was removed—yet the King’s trust persisted: he was permitted to send her remaining jewels in an ivory casket...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

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.