Famous Italian Artists

Vote for Your Favourite Italian Artists

Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.

 1 
Raphael
(Italian Painter and Architect of the High Renaissance)
Raphael
4
Birthdate: April 6, 1483
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Urbino, Italy
Died: April 6, 1520

Italian painter and architect Raphael, along with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, formed the great trio who ushered in the High Renaissance. He is mostly known for his frescoes of the Vatican Palace and The School of Athens. He also designed the Chigi Chapel, among other structures in Rome.

 2 
Giotto
(Painter)
Giotto
7
Birthdate: 1267 AD
Birthplace: Florence
Died: January 8, 1337

Fourteenth-century Italian painter and architect Giotto was one of the chief figures of the Early Renaissance. Mostly taught by Florentine painter Cimabue, Giotto grew up to paint masterpieces such as the frescoes of the Arena Chapel in Padua. He works consisted of human beings and Christian themes.

 3 
Benvenuto Cellini
(Italian Goldsmith and Sculptor Best Known for His Sculpture 'Cellini Salt Cellar')
Benvenuto Cellini
3
Birthdate: November 3, 1500
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: February 13, 1571

Benvenuto Cellini was a 16th-century Italian goldsmith, sculptor, draftsman, and artist. The multifaceted artist wrote poetry and a famous autobiography as well. An important figure in Mannerism, he is known for creating pieces, such as the Cellini Salt Cellar and Perseus with the Head of Medusa. He was a member of the prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence. 

Recommended Lists:
 4 
Edward Lear
(English Artist, Illustrator, Musician and Poet)
Edward Lear
4
Birthdate: May 12, 1812
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Holloway, Middlesex, England
Died: January 29, 1888

Renowned for his absurdism and wit, Edward Lear was a British poet who popularized literary nonsense. A talented painter, too, he had worked for the London Zoo, illustrating birds, and had later released illustrated travel books. A pioneer of the modern limerick, he penned the iconic poem The Owl and the Pussycat.

 5 
Canaletto
(Italian Topographical Painter, Landscape Artist and Printmaker Known for Using the Etching Technique)
Canaletto
4
Birthdate: October 18, 1697
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: April 19, 1768

Canaletto was an Italian painter who achieved popularity in England as his works were largely appreciated by King George III. Regarded as one of the most prominent representatives of the 18th-century Venetian school, Canaletto was also renowned for his skills as a printmaker.

 6 
Andrea del Verrocchio
(Italian Painter, Sculptor and Goldsmith Known for His Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni)
Andrea del Verrocchio
4
Birthdate: 1435 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: October 10, 1488

Andrea del Verrocchio was an Italian sculptor, painter, and goldsmith. He was a master of an important workshop in Florence and his pupils included famous men like Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo di Credi, and Pietro Perugino. As a sculptor, he is best known for his masterpiece, the Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice. 

 7 
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
(Italian Classical Archaeologist, Architect, and Artist)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
4
Birthdate: October 4, 1720
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: November 9, 1778

Italian architect, artist, and archaeologist Giovanni Battista Piranesi is best known for his 16-print series name The Prisons. His remarkable etchings of the famous landmarks of Rome exhibited his unique etching technique, which involved contrasts of light and shade. He made about 2,000 plates throughout his life.

 8 
Andrea Mantegna
(Italian Renaissance Painter Known for His Works: 'St. Sebastian', 'Camera degli Sposi' and 'The Agony in the Garden')
Andrea Mantegna
3
Birthdate: 1431 AD
Birthplace: Isola Mantegna, Italy
Died: September 13, 1506

Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna is remembered for his iconic frescoes and paintings such as St. Sebastian, Painted Room, and The Agony in the Garden. Known as the first fully Renaissance artist from Northern Italy, he began his artistic journey as an apprentice of Francesco Squarcione.

 9 
Romano Mussolini
(Pianist and Painter & Youngest Son of Italy’s Fascist Dictator 'Benito Mussolini')
Romano Mussolini
7
Birthdate: September 26, 1927
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Forli, Italy
Died: February 3, 2006

Italian jazz-pianist, painter and film producer Romano Mussolini, youngest son of fascist dictator of Italy Benito Mussolini, developed interest in music during childhood. He played jazz under the assumed name Romano Full following the Second World War and formed a leading Italian jazz band, Romano Mussolini All Stars, which spawned albums like Jazz Allo Studio 7 and At the Santa Tecla.

 10 
Giorgio Morandi
(Italian Painter and Printmaker Who Specialized in Still Life)
Giorgio Morandi
3
Birthdate: July 20, 1890
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
Died: June 18, 1964

Italian painter and printmaker Giorgio Morandi is best remembered for his remarkable still life paintings of subjects such as vases, boxes, bottles, and flowers. Though he was hugely inspired by the works of Paul Cézanne, his paintings, known for their gentle, subdued tones, do not fit in any specific school of painting.

 11 
Cimabue
(13th century Italian Painter Known for His Frescoes, Panel Paintings, and Exquisite Mosaics)
Cimabue
4
Birthdate: 1240 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: January 24, 1302

Italian painter and mosaicist Cimabue was one of the last Byzantine artists. His frescoes adorn the upper church of S. Francesco, Assisi. Though not much is known about his life, Cimabue found a mention in Dante’s Purgatorio, the second part of the iconic narrative poem The Divine Comedy.

 12 
Maurizio Cattelan
(Italian Artist Known for His Hyperrealistic Sculptures and Installations)
Maurizio Cattelan
3
Birthdate: September 21, 1960
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Padua, Veneto, Italy

Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian artist best known for his hyperrealistic sculptures and installations. He has a satirical approach to art and is often considered a joker or prankster of the art world. His works have been exhibited internationally in museums. One of his best-known works is America, a fully functional toilet made of solid gold. 

 13 
Sofonisba Anguissola
(Renaissance painter)
Sofonisba Anguissola
7
Birthdate: 1532 AD
Birthplace: Cremona, Italy
Died: November 16, 1625
 14 
Bronzino
(Painter)
Bronzino
4
Birthdate: November 17, 1503
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: November 23, 1572
 15 
Milo Manara
(Cartoonist, Illustrator, Writer, Artist)
Milo Manara
3
Birthdate: September 12, 1945
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Lüsen

Milo Manara is an Italian comic book writer and artist best known for his erotic comics and illustrations. He studied architecture and painting, following which he made his debut as a comic illustrator. His works have appeared in several magazines, including Charlie Mensuel, Pilote, and Terror. He has also drawn low print variant covers for issues of Marvel comic books. 

 16 
Filippo Lippi
(Painter)
Filippo Lippi
3
Birthdate: 1406 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: October 8, 1469
 17 
Salai
(Artist)
Salai
6
Birthdate: 1480 AD
Birthplace: Oreno, Vimercate, Italy
Died: January 19, 1524

Italian artist Gian Giacomo Caprotti, better known by his pseudonym, Andrea Salaì, or Salai, had been one of Leonardo da Vinci’s favorite pupils. Also known as the Little Devil, he had entered da Vinci’s home at age 10 and later became his muse for paintings such as Bacchus and also his lover.

 18 
Parmigianino
(Painter)
Parmigianino
3
Birthdate: January 11, 1503
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Parma, Italy
Died: August 24, 1540
 19 
Pontormo
(Italian Mannerist Painter and Portraitist)
Pontormo
3
Birthdate: May 24, 1494
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Empoli, Italy
Died: January 2, 1557

Pontormo was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His style was remarkably different from what characterized the art of the Florentine Renaissance. Orphaned young, he struggled for several years before he was able to establish his painting career. He painted many altarpiece canvases and frescoes, of which only a few survive today. 

 20 
Pietro Perugino
(Painter)
Pietro Perugino
3
Birthdate: 1446 AD
Birthplace: Città della Pieve, Italy
Died: 1523 AD
 21 
Jusepe de Ribera
(Spanish Tenebrist Painter Known for His Depictions of Religious and Mythological Subjects)
Jusepe de Ribera
4
Birthdate: January 12, 1591
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Xàtiva, Spain
Died: September 2, 1652

Jusepe de Ribera was a Spanish-Valencian Tenebrist painter and printmaker. He was also called Lo Spagnoletto ("the Little Spaniard") by his contemporaries. Little is known about his early life, though it is believed he studied at the Academy of Saint Luke. He spent several years of his career in Italy and was a leading painter in Naples.

 22 
Giovanni Boldini
(Former Painter known as the "Master of Swish" because of his flowing style of painting)
Giovanni Boldini
3
Birthdate: December 31, 1842
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Ferrara, Italy
Died: January 11, 1931
 23 
Luigi Russolo
(First noise artist)
Luigi Russolo
3
Birthdate: April 30, 1885
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Portogruaro, Italy
Died: February 4, 1947
 24 
Francesco Hayez
(Painter)
Francesco Hayez
3
Birthdate: February 10, 1791
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: February 12, 1882
 25 
Antonio da Correggio
(Painter)
Antonio da Correggio
3
Birthdate: August 30, 1489
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Correggio, Italy
Died: March 4, 1534
 26 
Sara Pichelli
(Artist)
Sara Pichelli
3
Birthdate: April 15, 1983
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy
 27 
Giacomo Balla
(Painter)
Giacomo Balla
3
Birthdate: July 18, 1871
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Turin, Italy
Died: March 1, 1958
 28 
Vittore Carpaccio
(Former painter best known for a cycle of nine paintings, The Legend of Saint Ursula)
Vittore Carpaccio
3
Birthdate: 1465 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: 1525 AD
 29 
Fornasetti
(Artist)
Fornasetti
3
Birthdate: November 18, 1913
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: October 15, 1988
 30 
Hugo Pratt
(Novelist, Writer, Painter, Screenwriter)
Hugo Pratt
2
Birthdate: June 15, 1927
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Rimini
Died: August 20, 1995
 31 
Agostino Tassi
(Painter)
Agostino Tassi
3
Birthdate: 1578 AD
Birthplace: PePonzano Romano, Italy
Died: February 25, 1644
 32 
Lucio Fontana
(Painter)
Lucio Fontana
3
Birthdate: February 19, 1899
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Rosario, Argentina
Died: September 7, 1968

Lucio Fontana was an Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist best known as the founder of Spatialism. The son of a sculptor, he followed in his father’s footsteps and studied at Accademia di Brera under the tutelage of sculptor Adolfo Wildt. He was prolific painter and held numerous stagings and exhibitions of his works. He was a co-founder of the Altamira Academy. 

 33 
Lavinia Fontana
(Painter)
Lavinia Fontana
2
Birthdate: August 24, 1552
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
Died: August 11, 1614
 34 
Francesco Clemente
(Former contemporary artist who was among the principal figures in the Italian Transavanguardia movement of the 1980s)
Francesco Clemente
2
Birthdate: March 23, 1952
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Naples, Italy
 35 
Piero Manzoni
(Artist, Painter)
Piero Manzoni
3
Birthdate: July 13, 1933
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Soncino
Died: February 6, 1963
 36 
Gino Severini
(Painter and a leading member of the Futurist movement)
Gino Severini
3
Birthdate: April 7, 1883
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Cortona, Italy
Died: February 26, 1966
 37 
Gentile Bellini
(Italian Painter and One of the Founders of the Orientalist Tradition in Western Painting)
Gentile Bellini
3
Birthdate: 1429 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: February 23, 1507

Gentile Bellini was an Italian painter affiliated with the school of Venice. He hailed from Venice's leading family of painters and was the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice. He worked for the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople for several months. He was a co-founder of the Orientalist tradition in Western painting.  

 38 
Maria Cosway
(Artist)
Maria Cosway
2
Birthdate: June 11, 1760
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: January 5, 1838
 39 
Simone Martini
(Major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style)
Simone Martini
2
Birthdate: 1284 AD
Birthplace: Siena, Italy
Died: June 30, 1344
 40 
Gino Paoli
(Singer-songwriter)
Gino Paoli
2
Birthdate: September 23, 1934
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Monfalcone, Italy
 41 
Filippino Lippi
(Former painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance)
Filippino Lippi
2
Birthdate: April 15, 1457
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Prato, Italy
Died: April 18, 1504
 42 
Elisabetta Sirani
(Painter)
Elisabetta Sirani
2
Birthdate: January 8, 1638
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
Died: August 28, 1665
 43 
Giovanni Paolo Panini
(Painter)
Giovanni Paolo Panini
2
Birthdate: June 17, 1691
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Piacenza, Italy
Died: October 21, 1765
 44 
Pinturicchio
(Painter, illuminator)
Pinturicchio
2
Birthdate: 1454 AD
Birthplace: Perugia
Died: December 11, 1513
 45 
Eugene de Blaas
(Painter)
Eugene de Blaas
2
Birthdate: July 24, 1843
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Albano Laziale, Italy
Died: February 10, 1931
 46 
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
(Painter)
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
2
Birthdate: 1290 AD
Birthplace: Siena, Italy
Died: June 9, 1348
 47 
Pietro da Cortona
(Former Baroque painter and architect)
Pietro da Cortona
2
Birthdate: November 1, 1596
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Cortona, Italy
Died: May 16, 1669
 48 
Carlo Carrà
(Painter)
Carlo Carrà
2
Birthdate: February 11, 1881
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Quargnento, Italy
Died: April 13, 1966
 49 
Carlo Levi
(Painter & Writer Known for His Book 'Cristo Si è Fermato a Eboli')
Carlo Levi
2
Birthdate: November 29, 1902
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Turin, Italy
Died: January 4, 1975

Best known for his iconic documentary novel Christ Stopped at Eboli, Italian painter and author Carlo Levi had also studied medicine. His anti-fascist ideals and political activism got him exiled to Lucania. He was part of the neorealist and contemporary movements. He had also been a senator of the Italian parliament.

 50 
Giuseppe Castiglione
(Missionary)
Giuseppe Castiglione
2
Birthdate: July 19, 1688
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: July 17, 1766