When we talk about Italy, it brings to mind the city of Florence which is full of the most opulent museums and art galleries. From Leonardo da Vinci to Michelangelo, from Bellini to Botticelli, Italy boasts of being the homeland of some of the most talented artist of all times. One of the most recognized and revered period in art, the Renaissance, started in Italy in the beginning of the fourteenth century. Painters like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Piero della Francesca and Masaccio were some of the important painters during the Italian Renaissance period. Italy boasts of a rich cultural and art heritage with some of the best known artist coming from this country.
List of Famous Italian Artists
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was not only an extraordinary painter but he was also an architect, sculptor, mathematician, inventor, scientist and writer. No other person has contributed towards art and science as much as Leonardo da Vinci. His paintings and sculptures are world renowned. Some of his most famous paintings are
Mona Lisa,
The Last Supper,
Madonna and Child and the
Virgin of the Rocks. He is perhaps best known for employing the "sfumato" technique in painting which gives his paintings a shadowy and ethereal look.
Raphael
One of the most famous Italian artists, Raphael was born in 1483 in Urbino, Italy. He is considered to be one of the great masters of the Renaissance period and is best known for his graceful style of painting. His best known works are
Madonna in the Garden,
The Transfiguration of Christ and
The School of Athens. He died at the young age of thirty eight, leaving behind many unfinished paintings and frescoes.
Michelangelo
Perhaps best known for creating one of the most awe aspiring frescoes on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel in Rome, Michelangelo was a painter, sculptor, engineer and architect. He was born on 6th March 1475 in Tuscany, Italy. His most famous works are the 18 foot
Statue of David and the frescoes done on the ceiling and alter of the Sistine Chapel.
Sandro Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli was born in 1444 in Florence, Italy. He was a Renaissance painter and is known for the use of sift colors and graceful and harmonious lines. He was a portrait painter as well as skilled at painting frescoes. He painted a large number of frescoes at the Sistine chapel. His most famous works are
Birth of Venus and
Spring and
Primavera.
Titan
One of the most influential members of the Venetian School of painting, Titan was born in 1488 in Italy. He was one of the most versatile and prolific of Italian painters and his painting techniques had a great influence on his contemporaries. He was accomplished in painting landscapes, portraits, still life and a host of other subjects. He is best known for his works
Woman at the Mirror,
Danaë with Nursemaid and
The Death of Actaeon.
Here is a
list of famous artists from Italy:
- Antonello da Messina
- Agnolo Bronzino
- Achille Leonardi
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Andrea da Firenze
- Andrea del Sarto
- Bernardo Daddi
- Baldassare Peruzzi
- Bartolomeo Suardi
- Canaletto
- Caravaggio
- Donatello
- Dosso Dossi
- Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Domenico Veneziano
- Elio Carletti
- Eleuterio Pagliano
- Francesco Guardi
- Fra Bartolomeo
- Giorgio de Chirico
- Giorgio Vasari
- Giovanni Pietro de Pomis
- Giovanni Bellini
- Giampietrino
- Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio
- Giovanni Paolo Panini
- Gherardo Stamina
- Jacopo Vignali
- Lelio Orsi
- Luigi Malice
- Melozzo da Forlì
- Mino Argento
- Nicola Simbari
- Parmigianino
- Paolo Uccello
- Raffaello Di Vecchio
- Rosso Fiorentino
- Sassetta
- Salvator Rosa
- Sebastiano del Piombo
- Titian
- Tintoretto
- Tommaso Redi
Be it paintings, frescoes or sculptures, Italian artists have produced some of the best works in the history of art. Their works speak for themselves and still remain as a testament to their incredible talent and genius.