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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
17th century etching black and white figurative character print expressive
17th century etching black and white figurative character print expressive

Jan Gillisz van Vliet17th century etching black and white figurative character print expressive, 1650

$1,620

17th century etching black and white figurative character print expressive

By Jan Gillisz van Vliet

Located in Milwaukee, WI

Jan Gillisz van Vliet (1605–1668) was a Dutch Golden Age artist and student of Rembrandt. He worked with Rembrandt between 1628 and 1637, inspired by his master's work. Like Rembrandt, van Vliet made a series of beggar figures, though often with a greater degree of satire and expressiveness. For example, this image of a rat catcher...

Category

1630s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Two Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman)

Hans Sebald BehamTwo Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman), 1540

$850

Two Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman)

By Hans Sebald Beham

Located in New York, NY

Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), an engraving after Beham’s Two Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman), engraving, c 1540, a copy or impression in reverse of Pauli 215, Bartsch 213, the cop...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Engraving

Pierre Nivelle, Bishop of Lucon

Charles MeryonPierre Nivelle, Bishop of Lucon, 1861

$450

Pierre Nivelle, Bishop of Lucon

By Charles Meryon

Located in New York, NY

Charles Meryon (1821-1868), Pierre Nivelle, Bishop of Lucon (1584-1660), 1861, etching on tin, after an engraving by Michel Lasne (1590-1667). Reference: Schneiderman 76, (fifth stat...

Category

1860s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Ancient Roman Busts - Etching - Late 18th Century

Ancient Roman Busts - Etching - Late 18th Century, Late 18th Century

$352

Ancient Roman Busts - Etching - Late 18th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Ancient Roman Busts from the Series "Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed", original etching from the end of the 18th century, made by Various Old Masters. In very good condition, exc...

Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

Portrait Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16/17th Century Italian Raffaello Art
Portrait Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16/17th Century Italian Raffaello Art

Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th centuryPortrait Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16/17th Century Italian Raffaello Art, 1550-1650

$6,044Sale Price|20% Off

Portrait Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16/17th Century Italian Raffaello Art

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

Tuscan painter active towards the end of the 16th century Portrait of Captain Niccolò Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola. Tuscany, end of the 16th century Oil on canvas, 64 x 47 cm., Framed 89 x 73 cm. The portrait we present to you shows the effigy of a vigorous high-ranking male figure in armor, in the most typical Renaissance pose, half-length and taken in profile, with his face and gaze turned to the side; the serious and intense expression and the facial features evoke at first glance the portraiture of early Florentine mannerism. He is Niccolò III Orsini (Pitigliano, 1442 - Lonigo, 1510), count of Pitigliano and Nola and son of Aldobrandino Orsini, famous leader and captain (or capitano di ventura) who lived between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who served for the state Pontifical in Naples and Florence and above all for the Republic of Venice. Portraiture with these characters, which derives from ancient coinage, was used in the sixteenth century in the sequences of Portraits of Illustrious Men, both in painting and in sculpture. The profile portrait was in fact a genre reserved, according to the Renaissance tradition, for celebrations, presenting those characteristics of imperturbability typical of the military role covered. Our painting is a work created by an author active in Tuscany towards the end of the sixteenth century, adhering to those pictorial styles made famous by the portraitist Cristofano di Papi dell'Altissimo (1530-1605), a pupil of Bronzino and then of Pontormo, known for having created a collection of about 500 portraits of illustrious men, known as the 'Gioviana Series' (now in the Uffizi Gallery); and among these it is possible to identify one dedicated to Niccolò Orsini. Our painting is inspired, in particular, by a print taken from the collection of prints...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Oil

The Anglers

Adriaen van OstadeThe Anglers, 1647

$4,000

The Anglers

By Adriaen van Ostade

Located in New York, NY

Adriaen Van Ostade (1610-1685) etching The Anglers, circa 1647, Godefry 26, Bartsch 26. Very good condition, with small (1/2 inch) margins, on cream laid paper, archival mounting. 4 ...

Category

1640s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

La Porcellana (A Market Scene of Porcelain Vendors)
La Porcellana (A Market Scene of Porcelain Vendors)

Ercole SettiLa Porcellana (A Market Scene of Porcelain Vendors), circa 1600

$9,800

La Porcellana (A Market Scene of Porcelain Vendors)

Located in New York, NY

An old master drawing that can live in a very contemporary environment! Remarkable use of line and expression - should be enjoyed in an important spot - can grace a kitchen or livin...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Ink, Handmade Paper, Graphite

'Portrait of a Young Woman' original Hollar engraving after Hans Holbein
'Portrait of a Young Woman' original Hollar engraving after Hans Holbein

Wenceslaus Hollar'Portrait of a Young Woman' original Hollar engraving after Hans Holbein, 1647

$1,650

'Portrait of a Young Woman' original Hollar engraving after Hans Holbein

By Wenceslaus Hollar

Located in Milwaukee, WI

In this print, Wenceslaus Hollar presents a portrait of an unidentified woman, copying a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger. The identity of the sitter is a mystery: formerly, the portrait was believed to be of Catherine of Aragon, and the National Portrait Gallery in London identifies her as Queen Mary I...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Engraving

Virgin and Child with the Pear
Virgin and Child with the Pear

Hans Sebald BehamVirgin and Child with the Pear, 1520

$4,000

Virgin and Child with the Pear

By Hans Sebald Beham

Located in New York, NY

Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), Virgin and Child with the Pear, engraving, 1520. Initials monogram and date in the plate. References: Bartsch 18, Pauli, Hollstein 19. First state (of two). In good condition, on old laid paper with thread margins on three sides, trimmed on the platemark bottom right and bottom, and archival mounting. h: 4.5 x w: 3 in / h: 11.4 x w: 7.6 cm A very good impression of this rarity. Hollstein indicates that earlier impressions, such as this one, do not have a scratch above the head of the Virgin. Beham was one of the Northern Renaissance Little Masters, so called because of their eminence in producing small-scale engravings such as the Virgin and Child with a Pear. Beham was born in Nuremberg in 1500, and may have trained under Durer, though his training is no more certain than that of his younger brother Barthel. He made his first engraving in 1518, and later became known for producing woodcuts as well. Beham’s Madonna with the Pear has a similar composition but in reverse to Durer’s engraving...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Engraving

Hunting Scene Drawing, Ink on Brown Paper, 16th Century, Unsigned
Hunting Scene Drawing, Ink on Brown Paper, 16th Century, Unsigned

Jan Van der StraetHunting Scene Drawing, Ink on Brown Paper, 16th Century, Unsigned, c. 1565

$7,631

Hunting Scene Drawing, Ink on Brown Paper, 16th Century, Unsigned

By Jan Van der Straet

Located in Paris, Île-de-France

Attributed to Jan VAN DER STRAET, called Stradanus (Bruges, 1523 – Florence, 1605) Hunting Scene Pen and brown ink, brown wash and white heightening on prepared brown paper, 26 × 31 cm Unsigned Provenance Private collection, France This striking and highly accomplished drawing depicts a wild boar hunt in a wooded landscape, animated by numerous figures and animals. The dramatic energy of the foreground, where hounds and hunters engage the beast, is heightened by the bold use of white heightening, which models the forms and enlivens the surface. The background, structured by tall trees and populated with additional hunting scenes, lends the composition a theatrical depth. Attributed to Jan van der Straet, known as Stradanus, this work belongs to the artistic context of Medicean Florence, where the artist developed an important body of hunting scenes intended for illustration and engraving. Influenced by Italian Renaissance models as well as his native Flemish culture, Stradanus excelled in dynamic storytelling and elegant draftsmanship. The drawing may have been a preparatory study for one of the compositions from the celebrated Venationes Ferarum, Avium, Piscium series, engraved in Antwerp under the supervision of Philips Galle...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Ink

Two Trophies With a Cuirass Lower Left

Enea VicoTwo Trophies With a Cuirass Lower Left, 1550

$525

Two Trophies With a Cuirass Lower Left

By Enea Vico

Located in New York, NY

Enea Vico (1523-1567) engraving, Two Trophies With a Cuirass Lower Left, 1550, Bartsch 449, with the name of the publisher Ant[onio] Lafreri at bottom, first state (of 2) before numb...

Category

16th Century Old Masters Art

Materials

Engraving

Suite of 12 Views of Italy
Suite of 12 Views of Italy

Franz WeirotterSuite of 12 Views of Italy, 1759

$1,650

Suite of 12 Views of Italy

By Franz Weirotter

Located in New York, NY

Franz Weirotter (1730-1771), Suite of 12 Views of Italy, etchings, 1759 [most signed in the plate by Weirotter]. Reference: Nagel 5. 10 printed in pairs on one sheet; one on a small...

Category

1750s Old Masters Art

Materials

Etching

San Pietro in Vincoli - Etching by G. Vasi - Late 18th century

Giuseppe VasiSan Pietro in Vincoli - Etching by G. Vasi - Late 18th century, Late 18th century

$880

San Pietro in Vincoli - Etching by G. Vasi - Late 18th century

By Giuseppe Vasi

Located in Roma, IT

San Pietro in Vincoli is an artwork realized by Giuseppe Vasi in the late 18th century. Etching, 33 x 45 cm. Signed and titled in the lower part. Good conditions! Giuseppe Vasi (Corleone,1710 - Rome, 1782) was an engraver, architect, and landscape artist. Between 1746 and 1761, Vasi published 10 volumes with 240 engravings of the monuments of Rome...

Category

Late 18th Century 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.

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