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.
Marine Invertebrates and Shell Anatomy - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XXXVI, p. 194. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely engraved scient...
Etching
Microscopic Structure of Animal and... - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XXXVIII, p. 250. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A refined scientific p...
Etching
$213
Flying Squirrel (Écureuil volant)–Ventral... - Etching by Jacques Menil - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XXIII, p. 114. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed zoolog...
Etching
Flying Squirrel (Écureuil volant) – Dorsal...- Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XXII, p. 114. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely detailed natural...
Etching
Comparative Anatomy – Skeleton of a... - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XVI, p. 78. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely engraved anatomica...
Etching
Comparative Anatomy – Pregnant Uterus with...- Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XLVII, p. 334. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed anatom...
Etching
$213
Anatomical Study – Stomach and Duodenal... - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XLVIII, p. 334. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed anato...
Etching
Anatomical Study – Visceral Organ... - Etching by Juste Chevillet - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. X, p. 50. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely engraved anatomical ...
Etching
Anatomical Studies – Liver and Associated... - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XII, p. 50. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed anatomica...
Etching
Anatomical Study – Thoracic Organs... - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XI, p. 50. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed anatomical...
Etching
Comparative Osteology – Forelimb and Claw... - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XXXIII, p. 178. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely detailed compa...
Etching
Anatomical Study-Intestinal and Reproductive...-Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. X, Pl. XXXI, p. 178. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed anatomi...
Etching
Anatomical Studies-Heart, Kidney and ...-Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tom. III, Pl. 14, p. 274. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed anatomi...
Etching
$213
Animaux spermatiques – Microscopic Studies - Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Planche II, p. 186. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely engraved scientific pl...
Etching
$213
Animaux Spermatiques – Microscopic Studies - Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Planche III, p. 200. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely engraved scientific p...
Etching
$213
Animaux Spermatiques – Microscopic Studies - Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Planche I, p. 180. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely engraved scientific pla...
Etching
Animaux Spermatiques (Reproductive Anatomy... - Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Planche V, p. 228. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. An early scientific plate illust...
Etching
Animaux Spermatiques du Lapin et du... - Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Planche VI, p. 238. From Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A scientifically important plat...
Etching
Le Chien de Sibérie - Etching by Jacques de Sève- 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, Tom. V, Pl. XXX, p. 300. Paris, 1771. Etching and engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 24.5 × 19.5 cm. A finely executed zo...
Etching
$1,580Sale Price|20% Off
Asia Declineatio: A 17th Century Hand-colored Map of Asia by Justus Danckerts
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a scarce 17th century beautifully hand-colored copperplate engraved map of Asia entitled “Exactissima Asiae Delineatio in Praecipuas Regiones Caerterasque Partes divisa et de...
Engraving
Gran Grue Della Baia d'Hudson - Etching by Andrea Scacciati The Younger
By Andrea Scacciati
Located in Roma, IT
Gran Grue Della Baia d'Hudson is a beautiful black and white etching on laid paper realized by the Italian artist, Andrea Scacciati. Title engraved on the higher margin, inscription ...
Etching
Rest on the Flight into Egypt - Etching by Giambattista Tiepolo - 1750
Located in Roma, IT
This etching on laid paper is the 13th plate of the series of 27 entitled Idee pittoresche sopra la fugga in Egitto di Giesù, Maria e Gioseppe executed by Giambattista Tiepolo and pu...
Etching
St. Simon from Les Grands Apôtres Debout Original 17th Century Etching
Located in Soquel, CA
St. Simon from "Les Grands Apôtres Debout, Représentant Le Sauveur, La Bienheureuse Marie et Les Saints Apôtres" Original 17th Century Etching by Jacques Callot. This portrait of St. Simon depicts him standing in a street, holding a book and leaning on a saw. The saw is typical of St. Simon's depictions as he was said to have been martyred by being sawed in half. Very good impression of this print, with bold lines and high contrast. This leaflet contains the words "Callot fec." in the bottom right, shorthand for the Latin fecit, meaning Callot made this. This edition contains no publishers mark or numbering on the piece, indicating that it is from the first printing state. Jacques Callot was born in the Duchy of Lorraine around 1592 to an important family in the court. He started an apprenticeship as a goldsmith at the age of 15, but later began learning etching. He is known for his technical skill in etching and for developing the echoppe style etching needle. Callot's etchings featured religious figures as well as soldiers, common people, beggars, and court individuals. His series "The Miseries and Misfortunes of War," published while Lorraine was invaded during the Thirty Years War, later influenced Goya's "Los Desastres de la Guerra...
Ink, Laid Paper, Etching
$284
Self-Portrait, Frowning - Engraving after Rembrandt - 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Self-Portrait, Frowning is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized by Charles Amand Durand (1831-1905) after an etching by Rembrandt. This piece of art belongs to a late edition...
Engraving
Allegories: Lies - Etching by F. Cepparuli - 18th Century
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...
Etching
$780Sale Price|20% Off
Sweden and Adjacent Portions of Scandinavia: A Hand-colored 18th C. Homann Map
Located in Alamo, CA
This hand-colored copper-plate map of Sweden and adjacent portions of Scandinavia entitled "Regni Sueciae in Omnes suas Subjacentes Provincias accurate divisi Tabula Generalis" was c...
Engraving
La Chaumiere Entouree de Planchees, Old Masters Etching by Rembrandt van Rijn
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Amand Durand, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - La Chaumiere Entouree de Planchees (B232), Year: 1878 (of original 1648), Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 5 x 6...
Etching
$700Sale Price|20% Off
18th Century Engraving "Attack with a Battering Ram" by Montfaucon
Located in Alamo, CA
This early original copper-plate engraving entitled "Attaque avec le Belier" from 'L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures' (Antiquity Explained and Represented in Diagrams), published in Paris in 1719 by Bernard de Montfaucon. It depicts an ancient...
Engraving
Offering Vesta - Etching by Nicola Vanni - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Offering Vesta from "Antiquities of Herculaneum" is a Hand-colored etching on paper realized by Nicola Vanni in the 18th Century. Signed on the plate. Good conditions. The etching...
Etching
$1,020Sale Price|20% Off
A Hand Colored 17th Century Janssonius Map of Prussia: Poland, N. Germany, etc.
Located in Alamo, CA
An attractive hand-colored copperplate engraved 17th century map of Prussia entitled "Prussia Accurate Descripta a Gasparo Henneberg Erlichensi", published in Amsterdam by Joannes Janssonius in 1664. This very detailed map from the golden age of Dutch cartography includes present-day Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and portions of Germany. This highly detailed map is embellished by three ornate pink, red, mint green and gold...
Engraving
Le Loir - Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1770s (Tom. VIII, 1771 ed.). Tom. VIII – Le Loir Plate XXIV, p. 192 Copper engraving Sheet...
Etching
Anatomical Study - Etching by Louis Lergrand - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, Tom. XI Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771 Plate XVIII, p. 276 Copper engraving Sheet size: approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm This...
Etching
$213
Anatomical Plate – Internal Structure of... - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Tom. XI, Pl. XVII, p. 276 Paris, 1771 Copperplate engraving on laid paper Approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm A finely engraved ...
Etching
Comparative Anatomical Study–Pathological... - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Tom. XI, Pl. XXIII, p. 276. Paris, 1771 Copperplate engraving on laid paper Approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm A detailed anato...
Etching
Comparative Anatomical Plate – Male.. - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière Tom. XI, Pl. XV, p. 276 Paris, 1771 Copperplate engraving on laid paper Approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm A finely detailed anatomical engraving il...
Etching
Anatomical Plate – Digestive System - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Tom. XI, Pl. XI, p. 276 Paris, 1771 Copperplate engraving on laid paper Approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm A finely executed co...
Etching
Anatomical Studies - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Paris, 1771. Copperplate engravings (etchings), approx. 24.5 x 19.5 cm each. A group of finely engraved anatomical ...
Etching
Anatomical Study - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Tome XI – Plate VIII, p. 202. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771. Engraving (etching and burin), approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm....
Etching
Anatomical Study - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Tome XI – Plate II (or III), p. 142. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771. Engraving (etching and burin), approx. 24.5 × 1...
Etching
Digestive Organs - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Tome XI – Plate XII, p. 276. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771. Engraving (etching and burin), approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm. ...
Etching
Osteological and Dental Studies - Etching by Juste Chevillet - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière. Tome XI – Plate VI, p. 142. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771. Engraving (etching and burin), approx. 24.5 × 19.5 cm. ...
Etching
Animal Anatomy - Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771 Tome VIII – Plate III, p. 26 Original copperplate engraving 24.5 x 19.5 cm Fine 18th...
Etching
La Musaraigne (the Shrew) - Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771 Tome VIII – La Musaraigne Plate X, p. 50 Original copperplate engraving 24.5 x 19.5 cm Fine ...
Etching
Male Reproductive and Associated Internal...- Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome VIII – Plate VIII, p. 54, from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Fine 18th-century copperplate engraving from the 1771 edition of Buffon’s monumental Histo...
Etching
$213
Central Nervous and Reproductive Systems..- Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome VIII – Plate VII, p. 54 from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Fine 18th-century copperplate engraving from the 1771 edition of Buffon’s celebrated Histoir...
Etching
Osteology of the Mole (La Taupe) - Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome VIII – Plate XV, p. 108, from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Fine 18th-century copperplate engraving from the 1771 edition of Buffon’s monumental Histoi...
Etching
Animal Anatomy Studies - Etching by Buvée d’Amérique - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome VIII – Plate XIII, p. 108, from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Copper engraving. Paris, 1771. Sheet size: approx. 24.5 x 19.5 cm. A finely engraved comp...
Etching
La Chauve-Souris (The Bat) - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate XVI, p. 154, from Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulièr, Paris 1771. Copper engraving. Paris, 18th century. Sheet size: approx. 24.5 x 19.5 cm. A finely engraved zoologi...
Etching
Anatomy and Skeletons - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome X – Plate LVI, p. 362, from Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, Paris 1771. Copper engraving. Paris, 18th century. Sheet size: approx. 24.5 x 19.5 cm. A finely engrav...
Etching
Anatomy and Skeletons - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome X – Plate LIV, p. 348 from Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, Paris 1771. Copper engraving. Paris, 18th century. Sheet size: approx. 24.5 x 19.5 cm. An important com...
Etching
Anatomical Analysis - Etching by Antoine Defehrt - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Tome X – Plate VIII, p. 50 from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 1771. Copper engraving. Paris, 18th century. Sheet size: approx. 24.5 x 19.5 cm. A finely executed anatomical eng...
Etching
$540Sale Price|20% Off
Rugen Island, Germany: An Early 17th Century Map by Mercator and Hondius
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an early 17th century map entitled "Nova Famigerabilis Insulae Ac Ducatus Rugiae Desciptio" (Map of Rugen Island, Germany) by Gerard Mercator and Henricus and Joducus Hondiu...
Engraving
Anatomical Studies - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière Tome III, Plate V, page 202 Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1771 Copperplate engraving on laid paper Plate mark visible; a...
Etching
Anatomical Studies - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière Tome III, Plate IV, page 224 Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1771 Copperplate engraving on laid paper (approx. 24.5 × 19.5...
Etching
Anatomical Studies - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière Tome III, Plate VI, page 202 Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1771 Copperplate etching and engraving on laid paper Plate ma...
Etching
Anatomical Studies - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Tome III – Pl. 9, p. 228 This finely engraved copperplate presents a comprehensive anatomical study of the head and brain, integrating muscul...
Etching
Anatomical Studies - Humain Brain - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Tome III – Pl. 10, p. 234 This copperplate engraving presents a systematic anatomical study of the human brain through multiple cranial secti...
Etching
Anatomical Studies - Humain Brain - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Tom. III – Pl. II, p. 234 This copperplate engraving presents a detailed anatomical study of the human brain and its principal internal struc...
Etching
Animal Anatomy - Etching by Jacques Baron - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, Tom. III – Pl. XII, p. 242 This copperplate engraving presents a detailed anatomical study of the organ of hearing, with particular emphasis ...
Etching
Animal Anatomy - Etching by Jacques de Sève - 1771
Located in Roma, IT
Plate from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle. Tom. III – Pl. 13, p. 246 This copperplate engraving presents a comparative anatomical study of the auditory apparatus, combining sectional ...
Etching