Any skilled painter who worked in Europe before 1800
Artemisia Gentileschi is an Old Master of Italian Baroque art In art history , "Old Master " (or "old master ")[1] [2] refers to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print " is an original print (for example an engraving , woodcut , or etching ) made by an artist in the same period. The term "old master drawing " is used in the same way.
In theory, "Old Master" applies only to artists who were fully trained, were Masters of their local artists' guild , and worked independently, but in practice, paintings produced by pupils or workshops are often included in the scope of the term. Therefore, beyond a certain level of competence, date rather than quality is the criterion for using the term.
Period covered In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the term was often understood as having a starting date of perhaps 1450 or 1470; paintings made before that were "primitives", but this distinction is no longer made. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as "A pre-eminent artist of the period before the modern; esp. a pre-eminent western European painter of the 13th to 18th centuries." The first quotation given is from 1696, in the diary of John Evelyn : "My L: Pembroke..shewed me divers rare Pictures of very many of the old & best Masters, especially that of M: Angelo..,& a large booke of the best drawings of the old Masters."[3] The term is also used to refer to a painting or sculpture made by an Old Master, a usage datable to 1824.[3] There are comparable terms in Dutch, French, and German; the Dutch may have been the first to make use of such a term, in the 18th century, when oude meester mostly meant painters of the Dutch Golden Age of the previous century. Les Maitres d'autrefois of 1876 by Eugene Fromentin may have helped to popularize the concept, although "vieux maitres" is also used in French. The famous collection in Dresden at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister is one of the few museums to include the term in its actual name, although many more use it in the title of departments or sections. The collection in the Dresden museum essentially stops at the Baroque period.
The end date is necessarily vague – for example, Goya (1746–1828) is certainly an Old Master,[2] though he was still painting and printmaking at his death in 1828. The term might also be used for John Constable [2] (1776–1837) or Eugène Delacroix (1798–1868), but usually is not. Edward Lucie-Smith gives an end date of 1800, noting "formerly used of paintings earlier than 1700".[4]
The term tends to be avoided by art historians as too vague, especially when discussing paintings, although the terms "Old Master Prints" and "Old Master drawings" are still used. It remains current in the art trade. Auction houses still usually divide their sales between, for example, "Old Master Paintings", "Nineteenth-century paintings", and "Modern paintings". Christie's defined the term as ranging "from the 14th to the early 19th century".[5]
Anonymous artists Artists, most often from early periods, whose hand has been identified by art historians, but to whom no identity can be confidently attached, are often given names by art historians such as Master E.S. (from his monogram), Master of Flémalle (from a previous location of a work), Master of Mary of Burgundy (from a patron), Master of Latin 757 (from the shelf mark of a manuscript he illuminated), Master of the Embroidered Foliage (from his characteristic technique), Master of the Brunswick Diptych , or Master of Schloss Lichtenstein .
List of the most important Old Master painters Rucellai Madonna by Duccio, c. 1285 .
Gothic/Proto-Renaissance Cimabue (Italian, 1240–1302), frescoes in the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi Giotto di Bondone (Italian, 1267–1337), first Renaissance fresco painterDuccio (Italian, 1255–1318), Sienese painterSimone Martini (Italian, 1285–1344), Gothic painter of the Sienese School Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Italian, c. 1290–1348), Gothic painterPietro Lorenzetti (Italian, c. 1280–1348), Sienese schoolGentile da Fabriano (Italian, 1370–1427), International gothic painterLorenzo Monaco (Italian, 1370–1425), International gothic styleMasolino (Italian, c. 1383–c. 1447), Goldsmith trained painterPisanello (Italian, c. 1395–c. 1455), International gothic painter and medallistSassetta (Italian, c. 1392–1450), Sienese International Gothic painter
Early Renaissance Paolo Uccello (Italian, 1397–1475), schematic use of foreshorteningFra Angelico (Italian, 1400–1455), noted for San Marco convent frescoesMasaccio (Italian, 1401–1428), first to use linear perspective thereby giving sense of three-dimensionality plus developed new realismFra Filippo Lippi (Italian, 1406–1469), father of Filippino Andrea del Castagno (Italian, 1410–1457)Piero della Francesca (Italian, 1415–1492), painter who pioneered linear perspectiveBenozzo Gozzoli (Italian, 1420–1497)Alesso Baldovinetti (Italian, 1425–1499)Vincenzo Foppa (Italian, 1425–1515)Portrait of a young woman by Sandro Botticelli , 1480Antonello da Messina (Italian, 1430–1479), painter who pioneered oil paintingCosimo Tura (Italian, 1430–1495)Andrea Mantegna (Italian, 1431–1506), master of perspective and detailAntonio del Pollaiuolo (Italian, 1431–1498)Francesco Cossa (Italian, 1435–1477)Melozzo da Forli (Italian, 1438–1494)Luca Signorelli (Italian, 1441–1523)Perugino (Italian, c. 1446–1523), Raphael was his pupilVerrocchio (Italian, c. 1435–1488)Sandro Botticelli (Italian, c. 1445–1510), great Florentine masterDomenico Ghirlandaio (Italian, 1449–1494), prolific Florentine fresco painterPinturicchio (Italian, 1454–1513)Filippino Lippi (Italian, 1457–1504), son of FilippoCima da Conegliano (Italian, 1459–1517)Piero di Cosimo (Italian, 1462–1521)
High Renaissance Sistine Chapel ceiling , Ignudi , Michelangelo, 1509Fra Bartolommeo (Italian, 1472–1517)Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564), acclaimed sculptor, painter and architectBernardino Luini (Italian, c. 1480–1532)Raphael (Italian, 1483–1520), acclaimed painterIl Garofalo (Italian, 1481–1559)Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (Italian, 1483–1561)Andrea del Sarto (Italian, 1486–1530)Correggio (Italian, 1490–1534), painter from Parma noted for illusionistic frescoes and altarpiece oilsGiulio Romano (Italian, c. 1499–1546)
Venetian School (Early Renaissance, High Renaissance and Mannerism) Domenico Veneziano (Italian, 1400–1461), Early RenaissanceJacopo Bellini (Italian, 1400–1470), Early RenaissanceGentile Bellini (Italian, 1429–1507), Early Renaissance, noted for historical scenes of Venice and portraits of its doges Giovanni Bellini (Italian, 1430–1516), Early and High Renaissance, pioneer of luminous oil paintingBartolommeo Vivarini (Italian, 1432–1499), Early RenaissanceCarlo Crivelli (Italian, 1435–1495), Early RenaissanceAlvise Vivarini (Italian, 1445–1503), Early RenaissanceVittore Carpaccio (Italian, 1455–1526), Early RenaissanceGiorgione (Italian, 1477–1510), High Renaissance, pioneer of Venetian School of paintingTitian (Italian, c. 1488–1576), important High Renaissance-style exponent of colour painting in oils and frescoesPalma Vecchio (Italian, 1480–1528), High RenaissanceLorenzo Lotto (Italian, 1480–1556), High RenaissanceSebastiano del Piombo (Italian, 1485–1547), High RenaissanceJacopo Bassano (Italian, 1515–1592), Mannerist painter noted for portraiture and religious genre paintingTintoretto (Italian, 1518–1594), major Venetian Mannerist painter of monumental religious worksThe Annunciation by Beccafumi, 1545Paolo Veronese (Italian, c. 1528–1588), High Renaissance-style, one of Venice's leading colourists
Sienese School Giovanni di Paolo (Italian, 1403–1482), Early RenaissanceMatteo di Giovanni (Italian, 1430–1495), Early RenaissanceFrancesco di Giorgio (Italian, 1439–1502), Early RenaissanceIl Sodoma (Italian, 1477–1549), High RenaissanceBeccafumi (Italian, 1486–1551), High Renaissance-Mannerist
Northern Renaissance "Kreuzigung Christi" (English: "Crucifixion of Christ") by Lucas Cranach the Elder , 1503 Robert Campin (Flemish, 1375–1444), Northern Renaissance artist who painted the "Mérode Altarpiece "Jan van Eyck (Flemish, c. 1390–1441), pioneer oil painterKonrad Witz (German, c. 1400–c. 1446)Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish, 1400–1464), Dutch artist and leading religious panel painterStefan Lochner (German, c. 1410–1451), German painter of the Cologne SchoolPetrus Christus (Flemish, c. 1410–c. 1476)Dirk Bouts (Flemish, 1420–1475)Simon Marmion (French, 1420–1489)Meister Francke (German, fl. 1424–1435)Hans Memling (German born-Flemish, 1430–1494), Flemish artist of the Bruges SchoolMartin Schongauer (German, 1430–1491)Michael Pacher (Austrian 1435–1498)Hugo van der Goes (Flemish, 1440–1483), oil painter from the NetherlandsHieronymus Bosch (Dutch, Early Netherlandish, 1450–1516)Gerard David (Flemish, 1450–1523)Geertgen tot Sint Jans (Dutch, 1460–1490)Hans Holbein the Elder (German, 1460–1524)Quentin Matsys (Flemish, 1466–1530)Jan Mabuse (Flemish, 1470–1533)Card Players by Lucas van Leyden , c. 1508Matthias Grünewald (German, 1470–1528), noted for his intense expressionist religious paintingsAlbrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528), greatest painter and printmaker of the Northern RenaissanceLucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553), leading German Renaissance painterHans Burgkmair (German, 1473–1531)Jean Clouet (French, 1475–1547)Albrecht Altdorfer (German, 1480–1538), Danube School of paintingMaitre de Moulins (French, fl. 1480)Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1484–1545), German Renaissance artistJoachim Patenier (Flemish, 1485–1524), pioneer landscape painter of the Netherlandish RenaissanceJoos van Cleve (Flemish, 1485–1540)Bernard van Orley (Flemish, 1488–1541)Hans Springinklee (German, 1490–1540)Wolf Huber (Austrian, 1490–1553)Lucas van Leyden (Dutch, 1494–1533)Jan van Scorel (Dutch, 1495–1562)Hans Holbein the Younger (German, 1497–1543), one of the greatest portrait paintersGeorg Pencz (German, 1500–1550)Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550)Barthel Beham (German, 1502–1540)Lucas Cranach the Younger (German, 1515–1586)Saint Sebastian between Saint Bernard and Saint Francis by Alonso Sánchez Coello, 1582Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Flemish, c.1525–1569), leading artist of his dayEgidius Sadeler (Flemish, 1570–1629)
Spanish Renaissance
Mannerism Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John by Agnolo Bronzino , c. 1545Dosso Dossi (Italian, 1479–1542)Alfonso Lombardi (Italian, 1487–1537)Bartolommeo Bandinelli (Italian, 1493–1560)Pontormo (Italian, 1494–1556), Florentine fresco/oil painterRosso Fiorentino (Italian, 1494–1540)Maarten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498–1574)Alessandro Moretto (Italian, 1498–1555)Giulio Clovio (Croatian-born Italian, 1498–1578)Niccolo Tribolo (Italian, 1500–1550)Parmigianino (Italian, 1503–1540), Mannerist painter/etcher from ParmaBronzino (Italian, 1503–1572)Jacob Seisenegger (Austrian, 1505–1567)Pieter Aertsen (Dutch, 1508–1575)François Clouet (French 1510–1572)Giorgio Vasari (Italian, 1511–1575), known for his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Antonio Moro (Flemish, 1519–1576)The Vegetable Seller by Pieter Aertsen , 1567Giovanni Battista Moroni (Italian, 1525–1578)Federico Barocci (Italian, 1526–1612)Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Italian, 1527–1593), best known for his bizarre Mannerist fruit and vegetable portraitsGiambologna (Italian, 1529–1608), hugely influential Mannerist sculptorDenis Calvaert (Flemish, 1540–1619)Scipione Pulzone (Italian, 1542–1598)Bartholomeus Spranger (Flemish, 1546–1611)Karel van Mander (Flemish, 1548–1606)Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, 1566–1651)Joachim Wtewael (Dutch, 1566–1638)Adam Elsheimer (German, 1578–1610), influential German landscape and history painter who influenced Rubens
Baroque painting Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio , 1601Antonio Tempesta (Italian, 1555–1630)Ludovico Carracci (Italian, 1555–1619)Bartolomeo Cesi (Italian, 1556–1629)Agostino Carracci (Italian, 1557–1602)Lodovico Cigoli (Italian, 1559–1613)Bartolomeo Carducci (Italian, 1560–1610)Annibale Carracci (Italian, 1560–1609), leader of the academism Orazio Gentileschi (Italian, 1563–1639)Hans Rottenhammer (German, 1564–1625)Pieter Brueghel the Younger (Flemish, 1564–1636)Francisco Pacheco (Spanish, 1564–1654)Portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham by Peter Paul Rubens , c. 1625Francisco Ribalta (Spanish, 1565–1628)Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish, 1568–1625)Juan Martínez Montañés (Spanish, 1568–1649)Caravaggio (Italian, 1573–1610), noted for his figurative realism and Tenebrism Guido Reni (Italian, 1575–1642)Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), foremost Baroque history painter and portraitistAdam Elsheimer (German, 1578–1610)Bernardo Strozzi (Italian, 1581–1644)Juan Bautista Maíno (Spanish, 1581–1649)Johann Liss (German, 1590–1631)Jusepe de Ribera (Spanish, 1591– 1652), Naples-based religious realist painter and printmakerGuercino (Italian, 1591–1666)Artemisia Gentileschi (Italian, 1592–1656)Georges de La Tour (French, 1593–1652)Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593–1678)Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez , 1656Louis Le Nain (French, 1593–1648)Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665), main classical artist of his timePietro da Cortona (Italian, 1596–1669), painter and architectFrancisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598–1664), master of chiaroscuro known for his religious paintings and still lifesGian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598–1680), the dominant sculptor and architect of the eraAntoine Le Nain (French, 1599–1648)Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641), portraitist living in LondonDiego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660), regarded as the greatest artist of the Spanish Golden Age Claude Lorrain (French, 1600–1682), landscape artistAlonso Cano (Spanish, 1601–1667)Jan Brueghel the Younger (Flemish, 1601–1678)Mathieu Le Nain (French, 1607–1677)Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Italian, 1609–1664)Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo (Spanish, c. 1612–1667)Mattia Preti (Italian, 1613–1699)Salvator Rosa (Italian, 1613–1673)Juan Carreño de Miranda (Spanish, 1614–1685)Carlo Dolci (Italian, 1616–1686)Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1617–1682), one of the most influential religious paintersCharles Le Brun (French, 1619–1690), leading painter in the court of Louis XIV Juan de Valdés Leal (Spanish, 1622–1690)Pedro de Mena (Spanish, 1628–1688)Luca Giordano (Italian, 1634–1705)
Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque painting The Concert by Gerard van Honthorst , 1623Roelant Savery (Flemish, 1576–1639)Frans Snyders (Flemish, 1578–1657), master of Baroque still life from the Antwerp SchoolFrans Hals (Flemish-born Dutch, 1580–1666), one of the greatest post-Renaissance portraitistsPieter Lastman (Dutch, 1583–1633)Hendrick Terbrugghen (Dutch, 1588–1629), Dutch Realist genre painter and a leading member of the Utrecht Caravaggisti Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch, 1590–1636)Dirck van Baburen (Dutch, 1595–1624)Matthias Stom (Dutch, 1600–1652)Adriaen Brouwer (Flemish, c. 1605–1638), noted for his tavern-based genre paintingsRembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), history painting , portraits, etchingsJan Lievens (Dutch, 1607–1674)Jacob Adriaensz Backer (Dutch, 1608–1651)Ferdinand Bol (Dutch, 1616–1680)Yonker Ramp and his sweetheart by Frans Hals , 1623Jan Havickszoon Steen (Dutch, 1625–1679), Leiden School, tavern genre scenesJan Davidsz de Heem (Dutch, 1609–1683), still-life artist of the Utrecht/Antwerp SchoolDavid Teniers the Younger (Flemish, 1610–1690), Dutch Realist known for his peasant/guardroom scenes Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, 1610–1685), peasant scene artist of the Haarlem SchoolGovert Flinck (Dutch, 1615–1660)Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613–1675)Frans van Mieris the Elder (Dutch, 1635–1681)Gerard Terborch (Dutch, 1617–1681), Haarlem School genre painterWillem Kalf (Dutch, 1619–1693), noted for still-life picturesAelbert Cuyp (Dutch, 1620–1691), Dordrecht School landscape painterSamuel van Hoogstraten (Dutch, 1627–1678), genre painterJan de Bray (Dutch, 1627–1697)Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628–1682), Haarlem School landscape artistGabriel Metsu (Dutch, 1629–1667), intimate small-scale genre scenesPieter de Hooch (Dutch, 1629–1683), Delft School of Dutch genre paintingJohannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675), Delft School Dutch genre painter, little-known in his own lifetimeMeindert Hobbema (Dutch, 1638–1709)Aert de Gelder (Dutch, 1645–1727)Adriaen van der Werff (Dutch, 1659–1722)Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664–1750), important female flower painter from AmsterdamJan Roos (Flemish, 1591–1638), painter influencing the genoese school , known for his still life paintings of flowers and vegetables, mythological and religious scenes and portraits
Rococo Capitulations of Wedding and Rural Dance by Antoine Watteau, 1711Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, 1682–1754), master of the fresco Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721), author of the first fête galante Giovan Battista Pittoni (Italian, 1687–1767), known for sacred families and childrenGiovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1691–1770), known for his frescoes, as in Würzburg Residence Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779), important 18th-century still-life artistFrançois Boucher (French, 1703–1770), noted for female nudesCharles-André van Loo (French, 1705– 1765) painter of portraiture, religion, mythology, allegory, and genre scenes.Pompeo Batoni (Italian, 1708–1787)Martin Johann Schmidt (Austrian, 1718–1801), important 18th-century Austrian Late Baroque painterJean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805), important 18th-century painterFrançois-Hubert Drouais (French, 1727– 1775) French portraitist to the royal family, King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leczinska, and members of the nobilityJean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806)Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755–1842), later NeoclassicalAn Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768
British Nicholas Hilliard (English, c. 1547–1619), goldsmith , limner , and painter best known for his portrait miniatures of Elizabethan nobilityWilliam Dobson (English, 1611–1646)John Michael Wright (English-Scottish, c. 1617–1694)Peter Lely (Dutch-born English, 1618–1680)Godfrey Kneller (English, 1646–1723)James Thornhill (English, c. 1675–1734)William Hogarth (English, 1697–1764)Allan Ramsay (Scottish, 1713–1784)Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723–1792)Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727–1788)Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734–1797)George Romney (English, 1734–1802)Architectural Caprice with a Palace by Bernardo Bellotto, 1765The Vow of Louis XIII by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1824John Opie (English, 1761–1807)Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769–1830)
Vedutism Canaletto (Italian, 1697–1768), famous for vedutas of VeniceGiovanni Paolo Panini (Italian, 1691–1765)Francesco Zuccarelli (Italian, 1702–1789), known for Arcadian landscapesFrancesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793), view painter of Venice SchoolGiambattista Piranesi (Italian, 1720–1778)Bernardo Bellotto (Italian, 1720–1780), Canaletto's nephew depicting Warsaw
Neoclassicism Anton Raphael Mengs (German, 1728–1779), friend of Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Zoffany (German, 1733–1810)Benjamin West (American-born British, 1738–1820)Angelica Kauffman (Swiss-born, 1741–1807)Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825), chief artist of the French Revolution and NapoleonAntoine-Jean Gros (French, 1771–1835), pupil of Jacques-Louis David Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French, 1780–1867)
Romanticism The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun by William Blake, circa 1805 Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808), painter noted for picturesque depictions of ruinsFrancisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828)Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756–1823)William Blake (British, 1757–1827), symbolist religious painter, printmaker and book illustratorCaspar David Friedrich (German, 1774–1840)J. M. W. Turner (English, 1775–1851)John Constable (English, 1776–1837)Théodore Géricault (French, 1791–1824)Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863)
See also
References ^ The term is spelled either way in the literature. Major UK and US dictionaries, incl. the Oxford Online Dictionaries, American Heritage Dictionary, Macmillan, Cambridge, and Random House dictionaries use lowercase; Oxford English Dictionary, Collins, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries also mention the uppercase spelling. ^ a b c Old Masters Department, Christies.com. ^ a b "old master, n. and adj." OED Online . Oxford University Press, December 2016. Web. ^ Lucie-Smith, Edward , The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms , p. 152, 2003 (2nd edn), Thames & Hudson, World of Art series, ISBN 0500203652 ^ Now rewritten less succinctly to the same effect.
External links Why do we still pay attention to Old Masters paintings? a conversation between Keith Christiansen is the John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of the Department of European Paintings at New York's Metropolitan Museum and The Easel's Morgan Meis, Contributing Editor of The Easel.