Stom Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
1630s Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Oil
People Also Browsed
Late 18th Century Other Art Style Figurative Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1970s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
17th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite
Early 18th Century Baroque Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Portrait Paintings
Oil
2010s British Beds and Bed Frames
Mahogany
17th Century Baroque Landscape Paintings
Oil, Canvas
18th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
1660s Portrait Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Antique 18th Century German Baroque Paintings
Paint, Canvas
1810s English School Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Recent Sales
1630s Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Oil
18th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
Early 1700s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
A Close Look at old-masters Art
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.