Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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
Josephus Augustus Knip (1777-1847), Picturesque Landscape Of The Alps
Located in PARIS, FR
Josephus Augustus KNIP
Tilbourg 1777 - Berlicum 1847
Picturesque landscape of the Alps with anthropomorphic rock
Circa 1800
Watercolor, gouache and brown ink
Signed lower left
47 x ...
Category
Early 19th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Laid Paper
View of the Posillipo coastline near Naples by William Marlow (1740 - 1813)
By William Marlow
Located in PARIS, FR
In this drawing, inspired by his stay in Naples in 1765, William Marlow presents us with a view of Cape Posillipo, to the west of Naples, an essential stage during the Grand Tour. Th...
Category
1760s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Study for « The Chinese Masquerade » by Jean-Baptiste Pierre (1714 - 1789)
By Jean-Baptiste Pierre
Located in PARIS, FR
Arriving in Rome in June 1735 as a resident at the Royal Academy, Pierre was unable to attend the Winter Carnival festivities of 1735, which he nevertheless immortalised in an engrav...
Category
1730s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Graphite
A dazzling Venetian Regatta Boat Study attributed to Alessandra Mauro
Located in PARIS, FR
This stunning Baroque study depicts a regatta boat, a type of vessel developed in eighteenth-century Venice for the regattas organized by the Serenissima during visits by royalty and...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
Study - Hon. Catherine Trevor, Viscountess Hampden with Verso Lady Anne Gower
Located in London, GB
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, England
Colonel Charles William Garnde Walker (1882 - 1974)
Thence by descent to;
Sir Michael Walker (1916 - 2001)
Thence by descent
We are grateful t...
Category
1770s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Laid Paper, Pen
La Femme Muse /// Allegorical Symbolism Romantic Old Masters European Drawing
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Unknown (Likely French, 18th Century)
Title: "La Femme Muse"
*No signature found
Circa: 1780
Medium: Original Pastel Drawing on heavy laid paper
Frami...
Category
1780s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel, Laid Paper
Dancing Couple (recto) Various sketches (verso)
By Hubert Robert
Located in PARIS, FR
Attributed to HUBERT ROBERT (Paris 1733 - 1808)
Dancing couple (recto) Various sketches (verso)
Red chalk and charcoal on the reverse
numbered in pencil “4229”
circa 1770
34 x 21 c...
Category
1770s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Chalk
The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, a preparatory drawing by Alessandro Casolani
Located in PARIS, FR
This powerful pen and brown ink wash drawing is a study for an altarpiece depicting The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew. Signed and dated 1604, it was painted at the end of his life b...
Category
Early 1600s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pen, Ink
The Abduction of the Sabine Women , a Renaissance drawing by Biagio Pupini
Located in PARIS, FR
This vigorous drawing has long been attributed to Polidoro da Caravaggio: The Abduction of the Sabine Women is one of the scenes that Polidoro depicted between 1525 and 1527 on the façade of the Milesi Palazzo in Rome. However, the proximity to another drawing inspired by this same façade, kept at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and to other drawings inspired by Polidoro kept at the Musée du Louvre, leads us to propose an attribution to Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist whose life remains barely known, despite the abundant number of drawings attributed to him.
1. Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist in the light of the Roman Renaissance
The early life of Biagio Pupini, an important figure of the first half of the Cinquecento in Bologna - Vasari mentions him several times - is still poorly known. Neither his date of birth (probably around 1490-1495) nor his training are known. He is said to have been a pupil of Francesco Francia (1450 - 1517) and his name appears for the first time in 1511 in a contract with the painter Bagnacavallo (c. 1484 - 1542) for the frescoes of a church in Faenza. He then collaborated with Girolamo da Carpi, at San Michele in Bosco and at the villa of Belriguardo.
He must have gone to Rome for the first time with Bagnacavallo between 1511 and 1519. There he discovered the art of Raphael, with whom he might have worked, and that of Polidoro da Caravaggio. This first visit, and those that followed, were the occasion for an intense study of ancient and modern art, as illustrated by his abundant graphic production.
Polidoro da Caravaggio had a particular influence on the technique adopted by Pupini. Executed on coloured paper, his drawings generally combine pen, brown ink and wash with abundant highlights of white gouache, as in the drawing presented here.
2. The Abduction of the Sabine Women
Our drawing is an adaptation of a fresco painted between 1525 and 1527 by Polidoro da Caravaggio on the façade of the Milesi Palace in Rome. These painted façades were very famous from the moment they were painted and inspired many artists during their stay in Rome. These frescoes are now very deteriorated and difficult to see, as the palace is in a rather narrow street.
The episode of the abduction of the Sabine women (which appears in the centre of the photo above) is a historical theme that goes back to the origins of Rome and is recounted both by Titus Livius (Ab Urbe condita I,13), by Ovid (Fasti III, 199-228) and by Plutarch (II, Romulus 14-19). After killing his twin brother Romus, Romulus populates the city of Rome by opening it up to refugees and brigands and finds himself with an excess of men. Because of their reputation, none of the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities want to give them their daughters in marriage. The Romans then decide to invite their Sabine neighbours to a great feast during which they slaughter the Sabines and kidnap their daughters.
The engraving made by Giovanni Battista Gallestruzzi (1618 - 1677) around 1656-1658 gives us a good understanding of the Polidoro fresco, allowing us to see how Biagio Pupini reworked the scene to extract this dynamic group.
With a remarkable economy of means, Biagio Pupini takes over the left-hand side of the fresco and depicts in a very dense space two main groups, each consisting of a Roman and a Sabine, completed by a group of three soldiers in the background (which seems to differ quite significantly from Polidoro's composition).
The balance of the drawing is based on a very strongly structured composition. The drawing is organised around a median vertical axis, which runs along both the elbow of the kidnapped Sabine on the left and the foot of her captor, and the two main diagonals, reinforced by four secondary diagonals. This diamond-shaped structure creates an extremely dynamic space, in which centripetal movements (the legs of the Sabine on the right, the arm of the soldier on the back at the top right) and centrifugal movements (the arm of the kidnapper on the left and the legs of the Sabine he is carrying away, the arm of the Sabine on the right) oppose each other, giving the drawing the appearance of a whirlpool around a central point of support situated slightly to the left of the navel of the kidnapper on the right.
3. Polidoro da Caravaggio, and the decorations of Roman palaces
Polidoro da Caravaggio was a paradoxical artist who entered Raphael's (1483 - 1520) workshop at a very young age, when he oversaw the Lodges in the Vatican. Most of his Roman work, which was the peak of his career, has disappeared, as he specialised in facade painting, and yet these paintings, which are eminently visible in urban spaces, have influenced generations of artists who copied them abundantly during their visits to Rome.
Polidoro Caldara was born in Caravaggio around 1495-1500 (the birthplace of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, who was born there in 1571), some forty kilometres east of Milan. According to Vasari, he arrived as a mason on the Vatican's construction site and joined Raphael's workshop around 1517 (at the age of eighteen according to Vasari). This integration would have allowed Polidoro to work not only on the frescoes of the Lodges, but also on some of the frescoes of the Chambers, as well as on the flat of Cardinal Bibiena in the Vatican.
After Raphael's death in 1520, Polidoro worked first with Perin del Vaga before joining forces with Maturino of Florence (1490 - 1528), whom he had also known in Raphael's workshop. Together they specialised in the painting of palace façades. They were to produce some forty façades decorated with grisaille paintings imitating antique bas-reliefs.
The Sack of Rome in 1527, during which his friend Maturino was killed, led Polidoro to flee first to Naples (where he had already stayed in 1523), then to Messina. It was while he was preparing his return to the peninsula that he was murdered by one of his assistants, Tonno Calabrese, in 1543.
In his Vite, Vasari celebrated Polidoro as the greatest façade decorator of his time, noting that "there is no flat, palace, garden or villa in Rome that does not contain a work by Polidoro". Polidoro's facade decorations, most of which have disappeared as they were displayed in the open air, constitute the most important lost chapter of Roman art of the Cinquecento. The few surviving drawings of the painter can, however, give an idea of the original appearance of his murals and show that he was an artist of remarkable and highly original genius.
4. The façade of the Milesi Palace
Giovanni Antonio Milesi, who commissioned this palace, located not far from the Tiber, north of Piazza Navona, was a native of the Bergamo area, like Polidoro, with whom he maintained close friendly ties. Executed in the last years before the Sack of Rome, around 1526-1527, the decoration of Palazzo Milesi is considered Polidoro's greatest decorative success.
An engraving by Ernesto Maccari made at the end of the nineteenth century allows us to understand the general balance of this façade, which was still well preserved at the time. The frescoes were not entirely monochrome, but alternated elements in chiaroscuro simulating marble bas-reliefs and those in ochre simulating bronze and gold vases...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Gouache, Pen
View of an Antique City, a wash landscape by Jan de Bisschop (1628 - 1671)
Located in PARIS, FR
The attribution to Jan de Bisschop has been confirmed by the RKD with the following comment: "We base this attribution on the dark washes, the subject represented and the monogram".
...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Pen
Judith and Salome, a pair of oil paintings on canvas by Francesco Conti
Located in PARIS, FR
This widely referenced pair of paintings is one of Francesco Conti’s most successful productions. Francesco Conti is one of the finest painters of 18th-century Florence. In the shimmering colors typical of his best work, he represents two opposite characters from the Bible: the virtuous Judith, whose courage saves her people by cutting off the head of the invader Holofernes, and the depraved Salome, who under the influence of her mother becomes responsible for the beheading of the prophet John the Baptist.
The artist's talent lies in his ability to treat these two macabre subjects with a light touch, presenting us with two attractive women who seem to twirl with glee amidst the severed heads...
1. Francesco Conti, the “Florentine Tiepolo”
Francesco Conti is a major painter of the Florentine school of the 18th century; he can even probably be considered, along with Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (1692-1768), as one of the two main painters of the second quarter of the Florentine 18th century.
Born in Florence in 1682, Francesco Conti began his apprenticeship in the workshop of Simone Pignoni (1611 - 1698), a disciple of Francesco Furini; he was also influenced by the Venetian Sebastiano Ricci. A protégé of Marquis Riccardi, he accompanied him to Rome between 1699 and 1705, where he frequented Carlo Maratta's studio. He settled permanently in Florence in 1705.
Painted exclusively on canvas, the majority of his work consists of religious subjects, altarpieces or private devotional works. It is likely that Conti himself was a devout churchgoer, as evidenced by his affiliation, in the third decade of the eighteenth century, to the Society of the Disciples of Saint-John-the-Baptist, and his entry, at the end of his life, into the fraternity of the Venerable Society of the Holy Trinity.
In Florence, Conti worked for the Grand Duchy's major patrons, including the last Medici - in particular Giangastone and Annamaria Luisa, Electress Palatine - and confirmed his role as a reference painter under the Lorraine Regency, as master of the Public Drawing School, which was closely linked to the institute responsible for the manufacture of semi-precious stone mosaics, then located in the Uffizi complex.
Matteo Marangoni, an art critic of the early 20th century, praised his "brushwork full of elegance and true spirit of the 18th century", pointing out that Conti was "probably one of the best colorists" of the Florentine school of his time. These two characteristics led the art historian Paolo dal Poggetto to nickname him the "Florentine Tiepolo".
2. Judith and Salome, two biblical characters opposing each other
These two paintings form a pair presenting two biblical episodes, which have in common the depiction of a "heroine" carrying the severed head of a man.
While the Salome episode might at first appear to be an echo of the Old Testament story of Judith, each character is the exact opposite of the other. Judith, whose story is told in the Book of Judith, is a beautiful young widow from Bethulia who, accompanied by her maid, went into the camp of the invading Assyrians and won the confidence of Holofernes, the general commanding the enemy army. Invited to a great feast on the fourth evening, she took advantage of Holofernes' drunkenness to cut off his head. “She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword that hung there. She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!” Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterward she went out and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid, who placed it in her food bag...
Category
1710s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
The Arab Butcher, a preparatory drawing by Gustave Guillaumet (1840 - 1887)
Located in PARIS, FR
This intensely expressive figure is a preparatory study for "Arab Market on the Tocria Plain", a painting exhibited at the 1865 Salon and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille.
1...
Category
1860s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Carbon Pencil, Chalk
"Arrows of St Sebastian" diptych 2 sepia ink drawings by Paula Craioveanu
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Arrows of St Sebastian" diptych 2 sepia ink drawings by Paula Craioveanu
This is a set of 2ink drawings, showing in a modern vision the martyrdom of St Sebastian.
These 2 drawings ...
Category
2010s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink
View of Piazza San Marco, a tempera signed by Giacomo Guardi (1764 - 1835)
Located in PARIS, FR
Signed and localized on the verso :
"Vedute di parte dalla Piazza dif.a alla Loggetta e cam
panil parte della Zecca ed in lontan Proc.e vechie e parte della chiesa
punto preso vic...
Category
Early 19th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Tempera
Baldassarre Franceschini, Sleeping Cupid, Valentine's Day Gift
Located in Harkstead, GB
A beautiful 19th century copy by Giuseppe Rocchi of Baldassarre Franceschini's Sleeping Cupid, presented in a very attractive gilt frame with hand carved mouldings. A very peaceful i...
Category
Mid-19th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
La Campagne de Rome - Roman Countryside - Drawing by J. P. Verdussen - 1740ca
Located in Roma, IT
China ink and watercolour on paper.
Realized in 1740 ca.
Very good conditions.
Includes passepartout.
Category
1740s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
Ruines Romanes - Roman Ruins - Ink and Watercolor by J. P. Verdussen - 1742
Located in Roma, IT
China ink and watercolor on paper.
Hand dated.
Conditions: Foxing on the top right of the paper
Category
1740s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
Mythological combat scene with Roman soldiers on horseback.
By Virgil Solis
Located in Middletown, NY
Pen and brownish black ink on grayish-cream laid paper, 6 1/2 x 8 inches (165 x 175 mm), irregular hexagonal sheet with margins. Some archival repairs along the top sheet edge, scatt...
Category
16th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pen, Laid Paper, Ink
La Bataille - The Battle - Drawing by J. P. Verdussen - 1740s
Located in Roma, IT
China ink and watercolor on paper.
Conditions: Two cuts on the centre of the paper. Three holes on centre-right, botton-left and top-left of the paper.
Worn on the top left of the ...
Category
1740s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Insubria
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Insubria'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Folio from Communion of Saints, Reading from the Book of St. Matthew.
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Readings from the "Communion of Saints": folio from an Italian Missal
Pigment on vellum
Mid 17th century
Provenance:
Otto F. Ege (1888-1951)
Phillip Duechnes Bookseller, New York, c. 1948
References And Exhibitions:
Otto F. Ege Box Folio 27
Ege describes these folios as: Epistolary (Epistolarium), Italy, Middle 15th century
Latin Text: Rotunda or Round Gothic Script, square rhetorical neumes
Sister folio are in the following rare book libraries:
Case Western Reserve University
Cincinnati Public Library
Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland Public Library
Denison University
Kent State University
Kenyon College...
Category
15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Vellum
Portrait of a Newlywed by Casper Casteleyn, an artist of the Dutch Golden Age
Located in PARIS, FR
This marvelous portrait on vellum is the work of a rare Dutch Golden Age artist, Casper Casteleyn, who has also drawn a closely related portrait now at the Fondation Custodia in Pari...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Vellum, Chalk
Camel - Drawing by follower of Stefano Della Bella - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Camel is an artwork realized in the 18th Century by an artisti follower of Stefano della Bella.
Pencil Drawing.
The artwork is in good conditions .
The artwork is depicted skill...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pencil
Costume drawings for ‘Ambassadeur de Siam’ and ‘La Sultana Reine’
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809)
‘Ambassadeur de Siam’ and ‘La Sultana Reine’
Both titled lower centre, the drawing of the ambassador inscribed with colours intended for the prints, e...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Pencil
Morning Glory and Poppy Floral - British art Old Master flower painting W/C
Located in London, GB
This charming Old Master circa 1800 water colour painting is of morning glory flowers and tendrils entwined with a poppy. The foliage has a metallic green tone and the white morning ...
Category
Early 1800s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Portrait of a Lady, Drawing Signed and Dated by Augustin de Saint-Aubin
Located in PARIS, FR
This drawing full of freshness presents us with the profile of an elegant lady, drawn by Augustin de Saint-Aubin on a beautiful summer day in 1776, during the early months of Louis X...
Category
1770s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pastel, Pencil
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Figure Fame
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Fame'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
cond...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Ink
Erotic French painter - 19th century figure drawings - Nudes - Ink on paper
Located in Varmo, IT
French painter (19th century) - Four erotic scenes.
17 x 24 cm without frames, 21.5 x 28.5 cm with frames.
Antique ink drawings on paper, in wood...
Category
Late 19th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Paper
18th Century Italian Old Master Drawing Nude Figure Sketches Male & Female
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Figurative Sketches
Italian School, mid 18th century
circle of Pompeo Batoni (1707-1787)
charcoal and pencil, heightened with white chalk, unframed...
Category
Mid-18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pencil, Charcoal, Chalk
French School, Academic Study (Male Nude)
Located in London, GB
Charcoal on paper, 60cm x 42cm, (74cm x 60cm framed). The picture is framed behind museum quality non-reflective UV glass.
Drawings and paintings of the nude were central to academ...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Paper, Carbon Pencil
Fine 18th Century Italian Old Master Drawing Mother & Children
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Giovanni Battista Cipriani, RA,
Italian 1727-1785
Sketch of a mother with three children;
black and red chalk on laid paper with watermark '© TAYLOR', 22.4 x 17.5 cm.
Provenanc...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
Double-sided Horse Studies by Théodore Géricault
Located in PARIS, FR
Recto: two horses, preparatory study for the lithograph "Les Boueux" ("The Muddy Ones")
Verso: four studies of horse heads (including two preparatory studies for the watercolor "Plowing in England"), a study of a life guard with the rump of his horse (preparatory to the lithograph "A Party of Life...
Category
1820s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Carbon Pencil
Soldier begging for Mercy a preparatory study by Jean-Marc Nattier (1685 - 1766)
Located in PARIS, FR
This rare drawing by Nattier is part of a set of preparatory studies executed in 1717 for one of the painter's first commissions, the painting commissioned by Tsar Peter I of Russia ...
Category
1710s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
Fine 17th Century Dutch Old Master Watercolor Drawing Hunting Party Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Hunting Party
Attributed to Dirk Maes (1659-1717) Dutch.
Figures in a Classical Landscape,
Watercolour and wash on paper,
Mounted, unframed image 6.75" x 9.75" (17.1 x 24.7cm)...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Design for a large wooden confessional from the Santoni Workshop
Located in Middletown, NY
Pen and grayish black ink on cream laid paper, 11 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches (283 x 185 mm), with the center of the sheet removed to create a window frame. Scattered light surface soiling, a...
Category
Mid-20th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Laid Paper
St. John the Baptist in the wilderness , Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God)
Located in Middletown, NY
Pen and sepia ink and wash on vellum, 8 7/8 x 10 1/2 inches (225 x 267 mm). In very good condition with some modern notations in pencil on the verso, minor cockling, and a 1-inch hor...
Category
Mid-17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Vellum, Pencil
Astraea, a study for the Golden Age fresco at Dampierre by Ingres
Located in PARIS, FR
This beautiful drawing, of great technical virtuosity, is one of the many studies made by Ingres for Astraea, one of the key characters in the Golden Age fresco he painted between 18...
Category
1840s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Pen, Pencil, Carbon Pencil
17th C Dutch Old Master Ink & Wash Painting Biblical Figures Rembrandt Pupil
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Figure being Comforted (Job?)
circle of Willem Drost (Dutch 1633-1659) *See notes below
ink and wash drawing on paper (Arms of Amsterdam watermarked)
Dutc...
Category
Mid-17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Sicilia
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Sicilia'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
c...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Archival Paper
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Providenza
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Providenza'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inche...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Archival Paper
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Africa
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Africa'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
co...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Archival Paper
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Female Statue of Beauty
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Belleza (The Art of Beauty)
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Princess from the Savannah
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
The drawings showcase the beauty of the black women on one hand and also reflect the intimacy animals possess with females, especially horses, and princesses in royalty. They are muc...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Charcoal
Ayanfe Omo Oba
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
The drawings showcase the beauty of the black women on one hand and also reflect the intimacy animals possess with females, especially horses, and princesses in royalty. They are muc...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Charcoal
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical India
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'India'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
con...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Ink
Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777) A Mythological scene, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777)
A Mythological scene
Pen and black ink on paper
Bears an old inscription with the name of the artist on the lower left bo...
Category
1770s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
A View of Capodimonte and A View of Posillipo in Naples; Two Drawings
Located in New York, NY
PROVENANCE
Mortimer Brandt, until 1993 and thus by descent in the family to
Private Collection, Baltimore until the present time
We would like to thank Charles Beddington for ident...
Category
Late 17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pen, Ink, Laid Paper
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Magnaminita
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Mgnaminia'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Archival Paper
18th Century Old Master pencil study of cows by French artist Jean Baptiste Huet
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
A rare and charming study of cows by 18th Century French painter, engraver and designer Jean-Baptiste Huet.
The details are:
Jean Baptiste Huet (French, 1745 – 1811)
Study of cows
P...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pencil
Antique French Miniature Portrait of Lady Biographical details with painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Miniature Portrait
French School, late 18th/ early 19th century
framed: 5.5 x 5.5 inches
board: 2 x 2 inches
provenance: private collection, France
condition: very good and sound c...
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Marriage
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Concordia Maritale (harmonious marriage)
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
o...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Ink
Memento mori - A study of a Skull
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
E. Rusch (late 19th century)
Memento mori - Study of a skull
Pencil drawing
Drawing Size - 11 x 18 in
Framed Size - 17 1/2 x 24 1/2 in
Memento mori is an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Pencil
Fine 1700's Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing Roman Allegorical Napoli
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Napoli'
Italian School, 18th century
ink and wash drawing on paper, framed within a light oak wood frame (behind glass)
image size: 10.5 x 7 inches
overall framed: 17 x 13 inches
co...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Archival Paper
Italian Old Master Ink & Wash Drawing St. Anne & The Virgin Mary with Cherubs
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Pietro Fancelli (Italian 1764 - 1850)
bio details attached to the frame
'St. Anne & The Virgin'
ink with watercolor wash on paper, framed
framed: 22 x 16 inches
image: 11 x 6.5 inche...
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
18th Century School, Courtyard of a palazzo, Architectural Capriccio, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
18th Century french School,
Courtyard of a ruined palazzo, An Architectural Capriccio,
Pen and black ink and black ink wash on paper
17 x 12 cm
In good condition
Framed : 32 x 26 c...
Category
1780s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink
Italian 18th Century red chalk study of a seated man by Zuccarelli
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Francesco Zuccarelli RA (Italian, 1702-1788)
Study of a seated man
Red chalk
11.1/8 x 7.5/8 in. (28.3 x 19.3 cm.)
Provenance; Colnaghi & Co, London
Francesco Zuccarelli was born in ...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
A landscape drawing by Claude Lorrain, with a preliminary sketch on the verso
Located in PARIS, FR
This study presents a typical Roman countryside landscape: an ancient mausoleum in front of which a cart is passing by followed by two peasants. If the technique (a pen drawing on graphite lines, completed with a wash of brown and grey inks) and the signature inevitably evoke the art of Lorrain, we find on the verso of this drawing additional evidences that lead us to consider this unpublished drawing as a work by the master.
The motif of the mausoleum has been taken up in pen on the verso in a technique that can be found in several other drawings by Lorrain. There is also a study of three characters, which can be considered as preparatory to Lorrain’s painting entitled The Port of Ostia with the Embarkation of Saint Paula, leading us to claim this attribution with a dating of around 1629.
1. Claude Lorrain or the perfection of classical landscape in Rome in the 17th century
Claude Gellée was born in 1600 in Chamagne in Lorraine. Orphaned at the age of twelve, he spent a year with his brother in Freiburg, where the latter was a woodcarver. Claude Gellée then probably arrived in Rome in 1613, where he joined the workshop of Agostino Tassi (1580 - 1644) in 1617. Between 1619 and 1620 he studied for two years in Naples in the workshop of Goffredi Wals (who was himself a former pupil of Tassi).
In 1625 he returned to Lorraine for two years where he worked alongside Claude Deruet. He then returned to Rome, a city he never left for the rest of his life (except for short trips to the surrounding countryside).
From 1627 to 1650 he lived in Via Margutta. From 1635 onwards he became a renowned painter and commissions started to pour in. Considered during his lifetime as the most accomplished of the classical landscape painters, his reputation never faded.
Between 1629 and 1635 Le Lorrain often went to the Roman countryside to draw with his friend Joachim von Sandrart (1606 - 1686). He became a member of the Academy of Saint Luke in 1633, while being closely acquainted with the Bentvueghels, this guild which brought together the young Nordic painters active in Rome. In 1643 he joined the Congregation of the Virtuosi. In 1650 he moved to Via Paolina where he lived until his death.
Little is known of his intimate life. He seems to have had a daughter, Agnes, from an ancillary love affair. In 1657/ 1658 she moved in with him. Stricken with gout in 1663, he died in 1682.
2. Description of the drawing; the technique of nature studies
Two peasants are walking behind a horse-drawn cart on a road that winds through ancient tombs. While a rectangular tomb with a columned facade can be seen in the distance, the cart passes an important ancient building. It has a circular shape and its partially ruined façade is decorated with columns. The start of a second floor can...
Category
1660s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Ink, Graphite, Pen
French School 18th Century, L'étonnement, form of expression, drawing
Located in Paris, FR
French School 18th Century,
L'étonnement, Astonishment as a form of expression,
Titled on the lower right "L'étonnement N°9"
Black chalk on paper
43 x 29 cm
In good condition, a sta...
Category
1750s Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Chalk
Old Masters drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters drawings and watercolor paintings 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 drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Michela De Vito, Jan Pieter Verdussen, Jan Peeter Verdussen, and Augustin de Saint-Aubin. Frequently made by artists working with Ink, 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 1.89 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings 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 $121 and tops out at $135,000, while the average work sells for $1,328.
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