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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
To Drink in Excess

To Drink in Excess

By Cornelis Visscher

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching on cream laid paper, full margins. Trimmed at the plate mark. Scattered light caramel colored areas of discoloration in the sheet corners, light skinning on the verso at the ...

Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

VEDUTA DI CHIAIA, Antonio Cardon - Stampa su carta con cornice, moderna
VEDUTA DI CHIAIA, Antonio Cardon - Stampa su carta con cornice, moderna

VEDUTA DI CHIAIA, Antonio Cardon - Stampa su carta con cornice, moderna

Located in Napoli, IT

Hand-colored print of the engraving by Antoine Alexandre Joseph Cardon of the original painting by Gabriele Ricciardelli. Edizioni Pontevecchio. Lily logo and a brush with the inscr...

Category

1970s Old Masters Art

Materials

Color

Portrait of Marquard Freher, aged forty-nine

Portrait of Marquard Freher, aged forty-nine

By Aegidius Sadeler

Located in Middletown, NY

Engraving on hand made laid paper, 8 1/2 x 5 7/8 inches (210 x 148 mm), thread margins. An approximately 1-inch vertical repaired tear extends into the image area at the top center ...

Category

Early 17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Engraving

Hercule Gaulois, ou L’Éloquence
Hercule Gaulois, ou L’Éloquence

Hercule Gaulois, ou L’Éloquence

By Charles-Nicolas II Cochin

Located in Middletown, NY

A classical chiaroscuro woodcut after Raphael executed by Charles Nicolas Cochin Père (1688-1754) & Vincent Le Sueur (1668-1743) . Printed from two bloc...

Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Woodcut

18th Century Etching of Ancient Roman Architectural Objects by Giovanni Piranesi
18th Century Etching of Ancient Roman Architectural Objects by Giovanni Piranesi

18th Century Etching of Ancient Roman Architectural Objects by Giovanni Piranesi

By Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Located in Alamo, CA

A. Tigna Protensa Super Media Epistylia, B. Praecisiones Tigorum Quaqua Versus Extrinsectus Apparentium, C. Opae Extremitates Tigorum Contintes, Fig. I, plate 88 from "Vasi, Candelab...

Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Delfts Blauw big wall plate “Rembrandt's Mother” after Gerard Dou
Delfts Blauw big wall plate “Rembrandt's Mother” after Gerard Dou

Delfts Blauw big wall plate “Rembrandt's Mother” after Gerard Dou

By Gerard Dou (Leiden 1613 - 1675)

Located in Riga, LV

Production period: 1921-1945. The RAM factory was founded in 1921 in Arnheim. In 1945, the original RAM production in Arnheim ceased, and RAAM Delfter Faience was established. Manufacturer: RAM Factory (Arnhem, Holland), known for its hand-painted ceramics and earthenware. Technique: Handgeschilderd, which means hand-painted in Dutch. Subject: The front of the plate depicts a portrait known as Rembrandt...

Category

Early 20th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Porcelain

Aegidius Sadeler II Engraving "Petronia, First Wife of Vitellius, Roman Emperor"
Aegidius Sadeler II Engraving "Petronia, First Wife of Vitellius, Roman Emperor"

Aegidius Sadeler II Engraving "Petronia, First Wife of Vitellius, Roman Emperor"

By Aegidius Sadeler II

Located in New York, NY

Artist: Aegidius Sadeler II Petronia, First Wife of Vitellius, from set of Roman Emperors and Empresses, c. 16th-17th century Engraving Publisher: Marcus Christoph Sadeler Sight: 15 1/4 x 10 3/4 in. Framed: 19 3/4 x 15 1/4 x 1 in. This image was conceived in the 16th century by Aegidius Sadeler II and published by Marcus Christoph Sadeler. It is unclear when the present version was executed. Aegidius Sadeler or Aegidius Sadeler II[1] (1570–1629) was a Flemish engraver who was principally active at the Prague court of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and his successors. Sadeler was born in Antwerp in the Sadeler family of print dealers and engravers. He was the son of Emmanuel de Sayeleer and the nephew of Aegidius I, Jan I en Raphael Sadeler.[2] He was trained by his uncle Jan I and became a member of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1589. He was active in Munich the next year in 1590, in Rome in 1593, in Naples and then again in Munich in 1594–1597. From 1597 he settled in Prague where he became court engraver for Rudolf II and made engraved portraits of notables and engravings after artworks there, most notably paintings by Bartholomeus Spranger, Roelant Savery, Hans von Aachen, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, and sculptures by Giambologna and Adriaen de Vries. His early engravings were mostly faithful copies of works by Albrecht Dürer in the Imperial collection and copies of paintings by notable Italian painters such as Raphael, Tintoretto, Parmigianino, Barocci and Titian or by Northern painters who worked there, such as Paul Bril and Denys Calvaert. In Prague he also engraved portraits of the notables of Rudolf's court, and collaborated with Spranger, Joseph Heintz the Elder, Jacobus Typotius and his friend Anselmus Boece de Boodt (1550-1632), Rudolf II's gemologist and physician.[3] After Rudolf II died he enjoyed the favour and protection of the two succeeding Emperors, Matthias and Ferdinand II.[4][5] According to Michael Bryan...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Engraving

Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully
Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully

Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully

By (After) Frans Pourbus the Younger

Located in Middletown, NY

A portrait of Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully, the Ambassador from Henry IV of France to James I of England; by Gerard Edelinck, after Franz Pourbus the Younger Etching on fine ...

Category

Late 17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

At Tunbridge Well

At Tunbridge Well

By Agostino Aglio

Located in Middletown, NY

Black crayon and graphite with white heightening on blue handmade laid paper. Adhered at all four corners to a period support, on which the title and an illegible date (perhaps 1815) appear to be written in the artist's hand. ________ Aglio was born in Cremona is 1777 and his artistic talent was recognized early in his life. He was promised a place at the University in Milan by the Holy Roman Emperor, however, his formal education was upended before it even began by the invasion of Italy and Austria by Napoleon. Aglio joined the war effort and fought in a series of major battles near Venice before becoming seriously ill. At the age of about 23 he was released from duty, and traveled to Rome to focus on his health, and landscape painting. In Rome, Aglio studied with the renowned artist Campovecchio. At the invitation of well known British architect William Wilkins (designer of the National Gallery and University College London), Aglio relocated to London in 1803. He made London his permanent home, and married Letitia Clarke in 1805. He enjoyed a lucrative career painting frescoes in the interiors of high society townhouses, country manors, and major London concert halls and theaters. Most notably, Aglio painted multiple official portraits of Queen Victoria...

Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Crayon, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite

Jeux de boules - Near the City Gate
Jeux de boules - Near the City Gate

Jeux de boules - Near the City Gate

By Herman van Swanevelt

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching on cream laid paper, 6 7/8 x 10 7/8 inches (175 x 275 mm), thin margins. Some minor surface soiling and paper tape residue in four areas along the top sheet edge, verso, othe...

Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

Study of a Priestess holding a Caduceus

Study of a Priestess holding a Caduceus

Located in Middletown, NY

Brown ink and wash on laid paper with a grapes and vine watermark, 6 5/8 x 6 1/2 inches (168 x 164 mm). Laid down to Fellows watermarked wove paper, with uniform age tone, areas of light discoloration, and attenuation of pigment. Unevenly trimmed margins, and paper tape remnant from having been tipped-into a scrap book...

Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Laid Paper

Venetian School: Neoclassical banquet scene with angels and putti.

Venetian School: Neoclassical banquet scene with angels and putti.

Located in Middletown, NY

Brownish black ink on dark cream, handmade, laid paper, 8 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches (208 x 260 mm). Uniform age tone with several scattered, unobtrusive spots of brown discoloration, consistent with age. Right top corner loss, evenly trimmed, paper tape remnants at top left corner, recto. Collector's stamp in blue ink ("PRB"), lower left corner, recto. On the verso is a neoclassical graphite and brown ink study of a procession showing a woman being carried in a birthing sedan chair. The woman is being carried backwards, with putti, and horn players, leading her up an embankment, across a river. In her wake we see a crowned man...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Ink, Handmade Paper, Laid Paper

Shepherd talking to a young shepherd on a donkey
Shepherd talking to a young shepherd on a donkey

Shepherd talking to a young shepherd on a donkey

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching on handmade, cream laid paper. 5 13/16 x 7 5/8 inches (146 x 192 mm), thread margins. Scattered handling creases, light age tone, and minor paper inconsistoncies throughout....

Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Etching

Landscape - Etching - 17th Century
Landscape - Etching - 17th Century

Landscape - Etching - 17th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Landscape is an old master artwork realized by Artist of late 17th Century. Etching on paper. Includes frame 31.8 x 37 cm

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Fine 19th Century French Oil Painting Madonna & Child Carved Wood Scrolled Frame
Fine 19th Century French Oil Painting Madonna & Child Carved Wood Scrolled Frame

Fine 19th Century French Oil Painting Madonna & Child Carved Wood Scrolled Frame

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Madonna & Child French School, 19th century presented in carved wood scrolled frame oil on canvas, framed frame: 27 x 20 inches canvas: 15.5 x 13 inches provenance: private colle...

Category

19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Study for Assumption of the Virgin

Study for Assumption of the Virgin

Located in Middletown, NY

Graphite on hand made, fibrous wove paper, finished with gray wash. Unevenly trimmed sheet edges, non-archival tape remnants at all four corners, recto, well outside of image area. Horseshoe-shaped area of light discoloration that extends significantly into the figure's face, beneath the lips, and up over the rear of the head, dog-eared right lower corner with associated light discoloration at crease. DeMin and Belluno inscribed in graphite, verso. A detailed study showing 'primo pensiero' for Giovanni DeMin's large scale fresco, Assumption of the Virgin...

Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Handmade Paper, Graphite

VEDUTA DI CHIAIA, Antonio Cardon - Stampa su carta con cornice, moderna
VEDUTA DI CHIAIA, Antonio Cardon - Stampa su carta con cornice, moderna

VEDUTA DI CHIAIA, Antonio Cardon - Stampa su carta con cornice, moderna

Located in Napoli, IT

Stampa su carta pregiata di un stampa antica "Veduta di Chiaia dalla parte di Levante" di Antonio Cardon . Edizioni Pontevecchio. Logo del Giglio e un pennello con la scritta "Color...

Category

1970s Old Masters Art

Materials

Black and White

Study of an architectural devotional with a Sacred Heart and three Putti

Study of an architectural devotional with a Sacred Heart and three Putti

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching on light cream laid paper, 8 x 5 1/2 inches (200 x 138 mm), 1/8-inch margins. Minor repairs, including expertly repaired lower right corner, and minor light in-painting at l...

Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

La Messe (The Mass), after Caravaggio

La Messe (The Mass), after Caravaggio

Located in Middletown, NY

Chiaroscuro woodcut with underlying engraving on cream laid paper, printed from two blocks in brown and olive. 10 1/4 x 12 3/4 inches (260 x 321 mm) (plate), full margins with the text printing clearly below in black ink. In very good condition with scattered surface soiling and several minor flecks of light discoloration in the margins, especially in the area of the lower right corner, well outside of image area. Unobtrusive notations in pencil in the margin and on the verso. All condition issues are consistent with age. After a drawing of the same title by Polidoro da Caravaggio...

Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Woodcut

Peasant with a Crooked Back

Peasant with a Crooked Back

By Adriaen van Ostade

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching on on laid paper, adhered along left sheet edge to archival wove paper. A rich inking impression in very good condition. From the Picart Edition of 1710. - Ex-collection Fer...

Category

Late 17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

Louis XI, Roi de France

Louis XI, Roi de France

By Jean Morin

Located in Middletown, NY

Etching, engraving and stippling on cream laid paper with an indiscernible watermark in the sheet center, 11 15/16 x 8 3/16 inches (302 x 207 mm), trimmed at the plate mark. A very g...

Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching

Portrait of Carlos de Colonna, Marques de la Espinar

Portrait of Carlos de Colonna, Marques de la Espinar

By Paulus Pontius

Located in Middletown, NY

(after Anthonie Van Dyck) Engraving on cream laid paper, 9 1/4 x 6 3/8 inches (234 x 161 mm), full margins. Water stain throughout bottom, diagonal creases in the area of the bottom right corner, paper tape along top edge on recto. A very well inked impression. __________Flemish painter and engraver Paulus Pontius was born in Antwerp in 1603, and it was in this city that his full life would unfold. At the young age of 13, he was apprenticed to the still life painter Osias Beert, and subsequently to Lucas Vosterman, who was heavily associated with the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. Vosterman trained Pontius in the skill of engraving, which he took to immediately, finding he had great skill at recreating paintings. Pontius was able to capture the minutiae of light and shadow found on the canvas, and mastered the ability to accurately render the subtleties of brushwork in this alternate media. His success as an engraver cemented his role in the workshop of Rubens, and in 1624, when Vosterman found himself at odds with Rubens, and left Antwerp for England, Pontius assumed his role as foremost engraver in the workshop. It was in this year that Pontius took up lodgings in Rubens's home, and continued to live there until 1631, when courtship and marriage (the first of three) brought him away. After the death of Rubens in 1640, Pontius embarked on a very successful career engraving reproductions of master works by artists including Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Pieter van Avont, Abraham van Diepenbeeck...

Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving

Justice Before Peace
Justice Before Peace

Justice Before Peace

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

We are all crying out for peace, But none is crying out for justice. Not just all about peace, But equal rights and justice. It’s a must-have. Slavery then, advanced colonization no...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Ink, Linocut

Theatrical Costume - Watercolor by Alfredo Edel - 1895
Theatrical Costume - Watercolor by Alfredo Edel - 1895

Theatrical Costume - Watercolor by Alfredo Edel - 1895

By Alfredo Edel

Located in Roma, IT

Theatrical Costume is an original pencil, pastel and watercolor realized by Alfredo Edel in 1895. Good condition, the artwork is from Amleto and represents Ofelia, with a note writes from the artist on the lower margin. Hand signed with pencil by the artist. Alfredo Leonardo Edel (1856–1912), sometimes credited as Alfredo Edel Colorno, was an Italian costume designer popular during the late 19th and early 20th century. He worked at the La Scala opera...

Category

1890s Old Masters Art

Materials

Watercolor, Pastel, Pencil

Spanish School, 17th Century, old master oil painting  'The Road to market'
Spanish School, 17th Century, old master oil painting  'The Road to market'

Spanish School, 17th Century, old master oil painting 'The Road to market'

Located in Petworth, West Sussex

Spanish School (17th Century) The road to market Oil on canvas Unsigned 29.1/4 x 43.1/4 in. (74.3 x 110 cm.) in what is thought to be its original carved and gilded frame with black...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tower, Original Watercolor Painting, Ready to Hang, Framed
Tower, Original Watercolor Painting, Ready to Hang, Framed

Tower, Original Watercolor Painting, Ready to Hang, Framed

Located in Granada Hills, CA

Artist: August Töpfer Work: Original Watercolor painting, handmade artwork, one of a kind Medium: Watercolor on Satin Paper Year: 1834-1911 Style: Classic Art Title: Tower, Size: 12...

Category

1890s Old Masters Art

Materials

Watercolor, Satin Paper

Allegories:  Lies  - Etching by F. Cepparuli - 18th Century

Allegories: Lies - Etching by F. Cepparuli - 18th Century

By Francesco Cepparuli

Located in Roma, IT

Allegories: Lies is a vintage poster realized by the Italian artist Renato Guttuso (Bagheria, 1911 – Rome, 1987) in 1981 Original Colored Offset on paper. The artwork was realized on the occasion of the exhibition realized in 1981 at Galleria Rondanini in Rome. The offset poster depicts the artwork Le Allegorie: Le Menzogne realized by the artist in 1979 Printed on the lower left corner: Renato Guttuso - Le Allegorie: Le Menzogne - 1979 . Allegories: Lies is an excellent artwork realized in Italy in the Second half of the XX Century by the Italian artist Renato Guttuso (Bagheria, 1911 – Rome, 1987). His father Gioacchino, a land-surveyor and amateur watercolourist, and his mother Giuseppina d’Amico, due to disagreements with their own town depending on their liberal ideas, registered the birth on 2 January 1912 in Palermo. In his birthplace Guttuso discovered painting at a very early age; as he himself wrote: “… among my father’s watercolours, the studio of the painter Domenico Quattrociocchi and the workshop of the cart painter Emilio Murdolo my path was taking shape when I was six, seven, ten years old…”.Guttuso was awarded the Lenin Prize at the time of his exhibition at the Art Academy in Moscow, 1972. The same year a large retrospective toured Eastern Europe calling at Praha, Bucarest, Bratislava and Budapest. Two major paintings belong to this period: La Vucciria (1974), later presented by the artist to the University of Palermo, and Caffe Greco...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

New Map of the Terraqueous Globe - WORLD MAP - CALIFORNIA AS AN ISLAND
New Map of the Terraqueous Globe - WORLD MAP - CALIFORNIA AS AN ISLAND

New Map of the Terraqueous Globe - WORLD MAP - CALIFORNIA AS AN ISLAND

By Edward Wells

Located in Santa Monica, CA

EDWARD WELLS (British 1667- 1727) A NEW MAP of the TERRAQUEOUS GLOBE - according to the latest Discoveries and most general Divisions of it into CONTINENTS and OCEANS, 1700-01 (Shirley 609) Engraved by Michael Burghers, Oxford. Hand-colored, Platemark 14 1/4 x 20 1/8 inches. Central cartouche flanked by figures representing the continents with dedication to William, Duke of Gloucester...

Category

Early 1700s Old Masters Art

Materials

Engraving

Escuela española (XVIII) - Óleo sobre tela - San Juan Bautista
Escuela española (XVIII) - Óleo sobre tela - San Juan Bautista

Escuela española (XVIII) - Óleo sobre tela - San Juan Bautista

Located in Sant Celoni, ES

Escuela Española siglo XVIII. "San Simón". Titulado a mano en la parte superior. Óleo sobre tela. Medidas: 82 cm. x 68 cm.; 86cm. x 72 xm. (marco). Se trata de un óleo sobre tela rep...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Call To Order
Call To Order

Tosin Oyeniyi Call To Order, 2023

$2,392Sale Price|25% Off

Call To Order

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Unmounted artwork Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Tosin Oyeniyi is an intrinsically talente...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Ink, Linocut

Stand Tall
Stand Tall

Tosin Oyeniyi Stand Tall, 2023

$2,392Sale Price|25% Off

Stand Tall

Located in Ibadan, Oyo

Shipping Procedure Unmounted artwork Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Tosin Oyeniyi is an intrinsically talente...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Old Masters Art

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Ink, Linocut

Madonna and Child and Saint with Two Angels

Madonna and Child and Saint with Two Angels

Located in Chicago, IL

This confidently executed drawing is a study related to Maratta’s painting La Vergine appare a S.Stanislao Kotska 1687 in the second chapel to the right, in the church of S. Andrea a...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Chalk

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.