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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
Œnée, from "Le Temple des Muses" by B. Picart
Œnée, from "Le Temple des Muses" by B. Picart

Œnée, from "Le Temple des Muses" by B. Picart

By Bernard Picart

Located in Roma, IT

Black and white etching on wire rod paper, representing the Greek myth of Œnée, "the king of Calydon, having neglected Diana in a sacrifice, is punished for his impiety" as the capture reports. Beautiful plate with fresh impression, from the volume “Le Temple des Muses...

Category

1740s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Que Locura - Etching by Francisco Goya - 1863

Que Locura - Etching by Francisco Goya - 1863

By Francisco Goya

Located in Roma, IT

Que Locura is an original artwork realized by the great Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1810. Original Etching on paper. The artwork belongs to the famous series "Los Desastres ...

Category

1860s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Assassinat de Basseville à Rome - Original Etching by P.G. Berthault - 1793

Assassinat de Basseville à Rome - Original Etching by P.G. Berthault - 1793

By Pierre Gabriel Berthault

Located in Roma, IT

Assassinat De Basseville à Rome is an original black and white etching realized by Pierre Gabriel Berthault, after Jacques François Joseph Swebach-Desfontaines in 1793. Title with caption on plate on the lower center: "Assassinat de Basseville, à Rome/ le 13 Janvier 1793, ou 23 Nivose An Ier de la République". Below the image on the lower margin, "Swebach Desfontaines onv. et del. / Berthault sculp." is etched on plate. This modern artwork is numbered "N. 76", because it is from the series Les Tableaux historiques de la Révolution française. As a matter of fact, Pierre-Gabriel Berthault is well-known for having engraved plates from this collection with the collaboration of the engraver Jean Duplessis-Bertaux. A work - hanging in the balance between news and history - with illustrations of salient or minimal events occurred during the French Revolution. As a celebration of the new ideals of brotherhood, justice, and equality, Les Tableaux immediately became a point of reference for journalism at the time. Of traditional cut, namely showing a view with many human figures, the engraving simplified the lines to be immediately readable for the general public. In our specific case, this original print represents the murder of Hugou de Bassville or Basseville (7 February, 1743 – 13 January, 1793), a French journalist and diplomatist, and protector of the radical Jacobins in Rome. In excellent conditions, except for a usual yellowing of the paper on the edges and a light trace of oxidations on the lower and right margins, beyond the marginal line of the matrix. Pierre-Gabriel Berthault (Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, 1737 - Paris, 1831) was a French master who made engravings from drawings by Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non (known as the Abbot of Saint-Non) and from paintings by Louis François Cassas. He depicted many views of Italy and created the collections Voyage à Naples and Voyage pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Palestine et de la basse-Egypte. Before the French Revolution, he was famous for being the author of the Vues intérieures de Paris and for tables with architectural elevations.

Category

1790s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Antiche Urne Cinerarie e Lampade

Antiche Urne Cinerarie e Lampade

By Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Located in Roma, IT

From the Piranesi's series “Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi disegnati ed incisi dal cav. Gio. Batt. Piranesi pubblicati l’anno MDCCLXXIIX” (1778). Antiche urne cinerarie e lampade" is an artist proof, printed on contemporary laid paper, large margins, representing antique marble cinerary urns - “found into antique graves...

Category

1770s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Brigata Regina

Brigata Regina

Located in Roma, IT

Title at the center of the lower margin. Some visible stains and light abrasions on the margins, an evident rip in the left-margin of center. Interesting colored lithograph which de...

Category

1830s Old Masters Art

Materials

Lithograph

Packhorse and Soldiers /// Antique British Victorian Etching Figurative Animal
Packhorse and Soldiers /// Antique British Victorian Etching Figurative Animal

Packhorse and Soldiers /// Antique British Victorian Etching Figurative Animal

By John Hamilton Mortimer

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: (after) John Hamilton Mortimer (English, 1740-1779) Title: "Packhorse and Soldier" Year: 1783 Medium: Original Etching on watermarked laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Prin...

Category

1780s Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching, Intaglio

The West Prospect of the Cathedral of York /// "Britannia Illustrata" Engraving
The West Prospect of the Cathedral of York /// "Britannia Illustrata" Engraving

The West Prospect of the Cathedral of York /// "Britannia Illustrata" Engraving

By Johannes Kip

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Johannes "Jan" Kip (Dutch, 1652/3-1722) Title: "The West Prospect of the Cathedral of York" (Vol. 3, Plate 31) Portfolio: Britannia Illustrata / Le Nouveau Théâtre de la Grande Bretagne Year: 1715-1724 (Third edition) Medium: Original Engraving and Etching on cream laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: Joseph Smith, London, UK Publisher: Joseph Smith, London, UK Sheet size: 19.25" x 24.19" Image size: 16.75" x 22.5" Reference: "London Illustrated 1604-1850" - Adams No. 22; Crace No. 201; Brunet IV No. 114; Lowndes No. 1277; Lewine page 263-264 Condition: With centerfold as issued. Some light toning and foxing mainly in margins, and some light edgewear. Has been professionally stored away for decades. It is otherwise a strong impression in very good condition Rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Ross-on-Wye, UK. Engraved by Dutch artist Johannes "Jan" Kip (1652/3-1722) after a drawing by Dutch artist Leonard Knyff or Leendert Knijff (1650-1722). Comes from Kip's six volume (including Supplement and 'Atlas Anglois') "Britannia Illustrata" / Le Nouveau Théâtre de la Grande Bretagne", (1724-1728) (Third edition), which consists of 394 engravings and etchings. Printed in one color from one copper plate: black. Biography: Johannes "Jan" Kip (1652/53 in Amsterdam - 1722 in Westminster) was a Dutch draftsman, engraver and print dealer. Together with Leonard Knyff, he made a speciality of engraved views of English country houses. Kip was a pupil of Bastiaen Stopendaal (1636–1707), from 1668 to 1670, before setting up on his own; his earliest dated engravings are from 1672. In April 1680, at the age of 27, he married Elisabeth Breda in Amsterdam. After producing works for the court of William of Orange in Amsterdam, Kip followed William and Mary to London and settled in St. John Street in Farringdon, where he conducted a thriving printselling business. He also worked for various London publishers producing engravings after such artists as Francis Barlow (c. 1626–1704) and Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630–1700), largely for book illustrations. He made several engraved plates for Awnsham & John Churchill's "A Collection of Voyages & Travels" (first published 1704). He signed the African scenes in volume V of the 1732 edition as "J. Kip". His most important works were the large fold-out folio illustrations for "Britannia Illustrata", 1708; for the 65 folio plates he engraved for the antiquary Sir Robert Atkyns, "The Ancient and Present State of Glostershire", 1712 (1st edition); and for "Le Nouveau Théâtre de la Grande Bretagne ou description exacte des palais de la Reine, et des Maisons les plus considerables des des Seigneurs & des Gentilshommes de la Grande Bretagne", 1715, an extended reprint in collaboration with other artists. The linked careers of Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff made a specialty of engraved views of English country houses, represented in detail from the bird's-eye view, a pictorial convention for topography. Their major work was "Britannia Illustrata: Or Views of Several of the Queens Palaces, as Also of the Principal seats of the Nobility and Gentry of Great Britain, Curiously Engraven on 80 Copper Plates", London (1707, published in the winter of 1708–9). The volume is among the most important English topographical publications of the 18th century. Architecture is rendered with care, and the settings of parterres and radiating avenues driven through woods or planted across fields, garden paths, gates and toolsheds are illustrated in detail. The images are staffed with figures and horses, coaches pulling into forecourts, water...

Category

1720s Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching, Intaglio

La Chaumiere Entouree de Planchees, Old Masters Etching by Rembrandt van Rijn

La Chaumiere Entouree de Planchees, Old Masters Etching 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) - La Chaumiere Entouree de Planchees (B232), Year: 1878 (of original 1648), Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 5 x 6...

Category

Late 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Escuela española (XIX) - Niña con paloma
Escuela española (XIX) - Niña con paloma

Escuela española (XIX) - Niña con paloma

Located in Sant Celoni, ES

La obra es de autor anónimo Se presenta enmarcada la pintura El estado de la pintura es aceptable Medidas obra: 44 x 32 cm. Medidas marco: 57 x 44 cm.

Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

Het Leeuwendeel (The Lion's Share) /// Old Masters Animals Landscape Dog Leopard
Het Leeuwendeel (The Lion's Share) /// Old Masters Animals Landscape Dog Leopard

Het Leeuwendeel (The Lion's Share) /// Old Masters Animals Landscape Dog Leopard

By Dirk Stoop

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Dirk Stoop (Dutch, c.1615-1686) Title: "Het Leeuwendeel (The Lion's Share)" (Plate 3) Portfolio: The Fables of Aesop Year: 1665 (an earlier state of unknown states) Medium: O...

Category

1660s Old Masters Art

Materials

Gesso, Laid Paper, Etching, Intaglio

Heiligie Familie, Old Masters Photogravure Etching by Rembrandt van Rijn

Heiligie Familie, Old Masters Photogravure Etching by Rembrandt van Rijn

By Rembrandt van Rijn

Located in Long Island City, NY

Rembrandt van Rijn, After by Bredius, Dutch (1606 - 1669) - Heiligie Familie, Year: 1906 Date of Original 1646, Medium: Photogravure, Size: 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 35.56 cm), Printer:...

Category

Late 19th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Various Weapons & Implements of War /// Edward Barnard's "History of England"
Various Weapons & Implements of War /// Edward Barnard's "History of England"

Various Weapons & Implements of War /// Edward Barnard's "History of England"

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Edward Barnard (English, 1717-1781) Title: "Various Weapons & Implements of War ... Which have been Employed Against the English, by Different Enemies: Now Deposited in the Tower of London" Portfolio: New Complete and Authentic History of England Circa: 1785 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Etching on laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: Alex Hogg, London, UK Publisher: Alex Hogg, London, UK Sheet size: 15.38" x 9.63" Image size: 11.75" x 7.94" Condition: Slight toning to edges. Has been professionally stored away for decades. It is otherwise a strong impression in excellent condition Notes: Provenance: private collection - Cheltenham, UK. Engraved by English artist George Walker (1781-1856) after a drawing by English artist William Hamilton (1751-1801). Comes from Barnard's one volume "New Complete and Authentic History of England", (1783, 1785, 1790) (First - third editions), which consists of 105 engravings. Printed in one color from one copper plate: black. Biography: Edward Barnard (1717-1781) was an English cleric and academic, provost of Eton from 1764. Barnard was second son of Rev. George Barnard...

Category

1780s Old Masters Art

Materials

Watercolor, Laid Paper, Engraving, Intaglio

Amadee, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi
Amadee, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

Amadee, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

By Marcantonio Raimondi

Located in Long Island City, NY

Marcantonio Raimondi, After by Amand Durand, Italian (1480 - 1534) - Amadee, Year: 1875, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 4.5 x 4.5 in. (11.43 x 11.43 cm), Printer: Amand Durand, Descr...

Category

1870s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

La paix, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

La paix, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

By Marcantonio Raimondi

Located in Long Island City, NY

Marcantonio Raimondi, After by Amand Durand, Italian (1480 - 1534) - La paix, Year: 1875, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 9.5 x 5 in. (24.13 x 12.7 cm), Printer: Amand Durand, Descrip...

Category

1870s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

S. Paolo Fuori Le Mura  (Vedute della Basilica di S. Paolo fuor della mura)
S. Paolo Fuori Le Mura  (Vedute della Basilica di S. Paolo fuor della mura)

S. Paolo Fuori Le Mura (Vedute della Basilica di S. Paolo fuor della mura)

By Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Located in Fairlawn, OH

S. Paolo Fuori Le Mura (Vedute della Basilica di S. Paolo fuor della mura) Etching, 1748 From: Vedute di Roma, Plate 8 An early Roman printing, published by Bouchard e Gravier Watermark: Fleur de Lys in a double circle Signed in the plate Condition: Small margins as are common with Bouchard published impressions. Centerfold (as usual) Rich impression with good contrasts Plate/Image size: 15 7/8 x 24 1/8 inches Sheet size: 17 3/8 x 24 3/4 inches Reference: Focillon 723 Wilton-Ely 138 Hind 6 ii/VI, Bouchard e Gravier printing, before the price and numbers in later states This image is Piranesi’s second interior scene from the Vedute di Roma. The first interior is a less complex composition of the Interior of St. Peters which lacks the challenging perspective that the artist masters in this image. The Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls...

Category

1740s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Set of Two Engravings from Campbell's "Vitruvius Britannicus" /// Architecture
Set of Two Engravings from Campbell's "Vitruvius Britannicus" /// Architecture

Set of Two Engravings from Campbell's "Vitruvius Britannicus" /// Architecture

By Colen Campbell

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Colen Campbell (Scottish, 1676-1729) Titles: "The Plan of Lindsey House in Lincolns Inn Fields" (Vol. 1, Plate 49) and "Lindsey House in Lincolns Inn Fields" (Vol. 1, Plate 5...

Category

1710s Old Masters Art

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching, Intaglio

La piece dite des cinq Saints, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi
La piece dite des cinq Saints, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

La piece dite des cinq Saints, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

By Marcantonio Raimondi

Located in Long Island City, NY

Marcantonio Raimondi, After by Amand Durand, Italian (1480 - 1534) - La piece dite des cinq Saints, Year: 1875, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 17.5 x 11.75 in. (44.45 x 29.85 cm), Pr...

Category

1870s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Sacrifice a Priape, Heliogravure by Jacopo de' Barbari
Sacrifice a Priape, Heliogravure by Jacopo de' Barbari

Sacrifice a Priape, Heliogravure by Jacopo de' Barbari

Located in Long Island City, NY

Jacopo de' Barbari, After by Amand Durand, Italian/Belgian (1450 - 1516) - Sacrifice a Priape, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 9.25 x 6.75 in. (23.5 x 17.15 cm), Printer: Amand Durand...

Category

1870s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Les trois docteurs, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

Les trois docteurs, Heliogravure by Marcantonio Raimondi

By Marcantonio Raimondi

Located in Long Island City, NY

Marcantonio Raimondi, After by Amand Durand, Italian (1480 - 1534) - Les trois docteurs, Year: 1875, Medium: Heliogravure, Size: 3.25 x 4 in. (8.26 x 10.16 cm), Printer: Amand Dur...

Category

1870s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

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.