Famous Italian Renaissance Painters
Imagine the world of art without the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Donatello or Piero della Fracesca? What if paintings like ‘Monalisa’, ‘The Last Supper’, ‘David’, ‘The School of Athens’, ‘The Assumptions of the Blessed Mary Virgin’ or ‘Gattemelata on Horseback’ never existed? Wouldn’t it be like living sans the soul? Often termed as the Golden period of art, creativity and ingenuity flourished at full swing during the Renaissance period. While the world basked in the works by greatest-ever artists born on Earth, it was Italy that became the epicentre of Renaissance movement. Florence gave birth to Renaissance movement, which expanded to include art, architecture, sculpture and literature. The period saw a great revival of interest in classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Paintings of that time are even till date unparalleled and of the highest supreme value. Italian Renaissance painters created magic on canvas which was visible in their giant frescos and murals. Most of their works depicted religious images, including subjects such as the Virgin Mary, or Madonna. Today an art form, Renaissance paintings then were worshipped and viewed as devotional objects. Read on and discover some interesting facts about the life and exemplary works of art by Italian Renaissance painters.
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1
Leonardo da Vinci(Italian Polymath & Artist Known for His Paintings: ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘The Last Supper’ and ‘Virgin of the Rocks’)
Birthdate: April 15, 1452
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Anchiano, Italy
Died: May 2, 1519
Widely regarded as one of the greatest painters ever, Leonardo da Vinci was an extremely talented polymath. While his work The Mona Lisa became the most famous portrait, his drawing The Vitruvian Man became a cultural icon. A man well ahead of his time, Leonardo is also known for his notes on science and invention.
2
Michelangelo(Regarded as the Most Accomplished Artist of His Era (High Renaissance))
Birthdate: March 6, 1475
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Caprese Michelangelo, Italy
Died: February 18, 1564
Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet Michelangelo was a prominent figure of the High Renaissance. He is credited to have influenced the Western art in unprecedented ways. He is widely regarded as the greatest artist of his age and one of the greatest artists of all time. He was equally revered and respected as an architect.
Birthdate: 1445 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: May 17, 1510
Italian painter Sandro Botticelli was one of the most influential figures of the Early Renaissance. His works later influenced the Pre-Raphaelites. He is best known for his iconic works Primavera and The Birth of Venus and his versions of the Madonna and Child. He also painted the Sistine Chapel.
4
Titian(One of the Greatest Venetian Artists of the 16th-Century)
Birthdate: 1488 AD
Birthplace: Pieve di Cadore, Italy
Died: August 27, 1576
Trained by Giovanni Bellini as a boy, Titian also joined hands with Giorgione to work on a number of frescoes. The Renaissance artist is regarded as one of the key figures of the Venetian school and is remembered for his masterpieces such as the three miracles of Anthony of Padua.
5
Giorgio Vasari(Artist and Author Best Known for His Biographies of Italian Artists)
Birthdate: July 30, 1511
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Arezzo, Italy
Died: June 27, 1574
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian architect, painter, writer, engineer, and historian. He is best remembered for his work The Lives, a series of artist biographies, which is regarded as the art-historical writing's ideological foundation. Vasari is also credited with the formulation of the term Renaissance as it was first suggested by Jules Michelet based on Giorgio Vasari's text.
6
Fra Angelico
(Italian Painter Who is Known for a Series of Frescoes He Made for His Own Friary in Florence)
Birthdate: 1395 AD
Birthplace: Vicchio, Italy
Died: February 18, 1455
Fra Angelico was an Italian painter best remembered for a series of frescoes which he made for his own friary in Florence. Described by Giorgio Vasari as having a rare and perfect talent, Fra Angelico was proclaimed blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1982 in recognition of the saintliness of his life.
Birthdate: February 14, 1404
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Genoa, Italy
Died: April 25, 1472
Born into an affluent banker family of Florence, Leon Battista Alberti was rumored to be an illegitimate son of his father and a Bolognese widow. The ideal Renaissance man, he later applied mathematical precision to his paintings and architectural work. His written work on art remains invaluable.
8
Masaccio(One of the Best Painters of His Generation)
Birthdate: December 21, 1401
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy
Died: 1428 AD
Masaccio was a Florentine artist best remembered for his skills at recreating lifelike figures and imitating nature. Widely regarded as the best painter of his generation, Masaccio employed foreshortenings and nudes in his paintings, which were rarely seen at that time. He is also considered the first great Italian artist of the Quattrocento period.
Birthdate: 1430 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: 1516 AD
Giovanni Bellini was an Italian painter who hailed from the famous Bellini family of painters. Giovanni is credited with revolutionizing Venetian painting, shifting it towards a more coloristic and sensuous style. Best remembered for creating paintings with detailed shadings and rich tints, Giovanni's work had a strong influence on the Venetian painting school.
10
Andrea del Verrocchio
(Italian Painter, Sculptor and Goldsmith Known for His Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni)
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.
11
Andrea Mantegna
(Italian Renaissance Painter Known for His Works: 'St. Sebastian', 'Camera degli Sposi' and 'The Agony in the Garden')
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.
12
Paolo Veronese
(Italian Painter Who Became Famous for His Extremely Large Paintings of Mythology and Religion)
Birthdate: 1528 AD
Birthplace: Verona, Italy
Died: April 19, 1588
Paolo Veronese was an Italian painter best remembered for his extremely large history paintings of mythology and religion, such as The Feast in the House of Levi and The Wedding at Cana. The leading Venetian painter of ceilings during his time, Paolo Veronese has always been appreciated for the splendor of his brushwork and the chromatic brilliance of his palette.
13
Sofonisba Anguissola
(Renaissance painter)
Birthdate: 1532 AD
Birthplace: Cremona, Italy
Died: November 16, 1625
14
Domenico Ghirlandaio
(Painter)
Birthdate: June 2, 1448
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: January 11, 1494
15
Paolo Uccello
(Florentine Painter and Mathematician Known for His Pioneering Work on Visual Perspective in Art)
Birthdate: 1397 AD
Birthplace: Pratovecchio, Italy
Died: December 10, 1475
Paolo Uccello was a 15th-century Florentine painter and mathematician. He worked in the Late Gothic tradition and had a style best described as idiosyncratic. As a young man, he was apprenticed to the famous sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, with whom he collaborated on his later works. His paintings representing the battle of San Romano are considered his best.
16
Pontormo(Italian Mannerist Painter and Portraitist)
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.
Birthdate: 1491 AD
Birthplace: Italy
Died: 1570 AD
18
Vittore Carpaccio
(Former painter best known for a cycle of nine paintings, The Legend of Saint Ursula)
Birthdate: 1465 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: 1525 AD
Birthdate: 1477 AD
Birthplace: Castelfranco Veneto, Italy
Died: October 25, 1510
20
Luca Signorelli
(Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening)
Birthdate: 1441 AD
Birthplace: Cortona, Italy
Died: October 16, 1523
21
Sebastiano del Piombo
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1485 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: June 21, 1547
22
Gentile Bellini
(Italian Painter and One of the Founders of the Orientalist Tradition in Western Painting)
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.
Birthdate: 1430 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: 1495 AD
Birthdate: 1499 AD
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: November 1, 1546
25
Andrea del Sarto
(Painter)
Birthdate: July 16, 1486
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: September 29, 1530
26
Filippino Lippi
(Former painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance)
Birthdate: April 15, 1457
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Prato, Italy
Died: April 18, 1504
27
Antonello da Messina
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1430 AD
Birthplace: Messina, Italy
Died: February 19, 1479
Birthdate: 1480 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: 1557 AD
Birthdate: 1395 AD
Birthplace: Pisa, Italy
Died: 1455 AD
Birthdate: 1420 AD
Birthplace: Scandicci, Italy
Died: October 4, 1497
Birthdate: January 2, 1462
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: April 12, 1522
32
Bernardino Luini
(Italian painter)
Birthdate: 1482 AD
Birthplace: Lake Maggiore
Died: May 31, 1532
33
Francesco del Cossa
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1430 AD
Birthplace: Ferrara, Italy
Died: 1477 AD
Birthdate: 1489 AD
Birthplace: San Giovanni del Dosso, Italy
Died: 1542 AD
35
Andrea del Castagno
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1419 AD
Birthplace: Castagno, Italy
Died: August 19, 1457
36
Federico Barocci
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1535 AD
Birthplace: Urbino, Italy
Died: September 30, 1612
37
Giovanni Battista Moroni
(Italian painter)
Birthdate: 1520 AD
Birthplace: Albino, Italy
Died: February 5, 1579
38
Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1466 AD
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: 1516 AD
Birthdate: 1400
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: 1469 AD
Best remembered for his Treatise on Architecture, Filarete was a Florentine architect, sculptor, medalist and author. Born Antonio di Pietro Averlino, he was given the name Filarete, meaning lover of excellence, possibly by his teacher Lorenzo Ghiberti. Later, he began working independently, building the bronze central doors of Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Ospedale Maggiore in Milan.
Birthdate: 1360 AD
Birthplace: Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy
Died: 1427 AD
Chiefly remembered for authoring Il libro dell’arte, Cennino Cennini, a Florentine painter of late Gothic period, followed the tradition of Giotto di Bondone. In this book, which he possibly wrote as a guide book, rather than a practical handbook for apprentice painters, he discusses in details about methods, techniques, and attitudes of medieval artists, providing an insight into their world.
Birthdate: 1400 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: 1470 AD
Birthdate: September 26, 1578
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: 1630 AD
Birthdate: 1460 AD
Birthplace: Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Died: 1524 AD
44
Cima da Conegliano
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1459 AD
Birthplace: Conegliano, Italy
Died: November 30, 1517
Birthdate: 1410 AD
Birthplace: Flanders, Belgium
Died: 1480 AD
46
Stefano di Giovanni
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1392 AD
Birthplace: SiSiena, Italy
Died: April 1, 1450
Birthdate: 1280 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: August 18, 1348
Birthdate: 1484 AD
Birthplace: Pordenone, Italy
Died: January 14, 1539
49
Giovanni Francesco Caroto
(Painter)
Birthdate: 1480 AD
Birthplace: Verona, Italy
Died: April 29, 1555
50
Piero del Pollaiolo
(Artist)
Birthdate: 1443 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: 1496 AD