Famous Renaissance Artists – Masterpieces Shaped Art History

Renaissance artists came from all parts of Europe over a period of several centuries but this website focuses only on the most influential and discusses their careers in detail, as well offering a gallery of the finest Renaissance paintings, many of which you will surely recognise.
We have tried to cover a broad a period of the movement as possible, covering the earliest artists all the way up towards the beginning of the Baroque era that slowly replaced everything that you can find within this website that covers around 30 painters in total.

Renaissance art is generally considered to be the catalyst which took existing European art on a new path from what had gone before within the Middle Ages. All the contemporary styles which we enjoy today came about, in part, due to the developments made by all of the painters listed within this website.
Certainly, the importance of this art movement can never be overplayed, and for this reason it is unsurprising that so many art fans still love the work of these great painters so many years after the Renaissance period has passed by.

Renaissance artists in the main were focused on single styles of work which they would attempt to develop their own skills within over the duration of their careers.
There were however a few who managed to achieve success a large number of sectors far beyond just painting and that is what makes the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo stand out from the rest.
These two were involved with invention, sculpture and literature, to name just three, and it still seems unimaginable that anyone could achieve the same within the modern day.

You will notice that most painters featured here are Italian and that is because Italy was the real driving force, particularly when the movement was in it’s infancy.
Several cities produced a large proportion of the Italian painters, most of whom were settled in key artistic centres like Rome, Venice and Florence which itself is seen as the most important of all.
Even today, you will find a large amount of the paintings included here on display in Florence galleries and art museums which are one of the major attractions for tourists to the region.

Explore our collection of Renaissance art prints, featuring timeless masterpieces from the era’s most iconic artists.

The Last Supper Framed Leonardo da Vinci
The Last Supper Leonardo da Vinci

Last Supper

Last Supper is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci which is amongst the most recognisable religious scene ever created within the art world and yet another fresco from Da Vinci which astounds as well as ranking within the greatest Renaissance paintings of all time.
The Last Supper depicts the final moments in the life of Jesus Christ and is a very important scene within the teachings of Christianity, which is why the artist would have been commissioned to produce this particular fresco.
Leonardo da Vinci has no equal within art, and is held up by many as the finest example of what the Renaissance was all about. Michelangelo is the only man who delivered a similarly impressive and varied catalogue of work, but the two did differ a little in the fields in which they were involved.
Leonardo da Vinci produced impressive drawings for his sketches as well as portrait drawings in almost endless numbers.
These natural skills helped to provide the basis for his paintings too, which included Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

View of Toledo El Greco canvas print
View of Toledo El Greco Art Print

View of Toledo El Greco

View of Toledo is a key work by Greek artist El Greco who was an unusual and highly creative painter who had a style which was extremely expressive for this period of art when most only followed a more formulaic style of depicting portraits and other objects.
View of Toledo follows in this same style with exagerated edges and dramatic lighting that sets an impressive mood which excites and intrigues the viewer.
El Greco remains separate in style and background from the other artists included here but his work and it’s original qualities have made him highly respected and his popularity is very much retained today, with many interested in his View of Toledo painting as well as other contributions which tended to be of religious scenes, in keeping with the norm from the Renaissance movement as a whole.

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch
The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

Garden of Earthly Delights

Garden of Earthly Delights is a triptych from Dutch Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch and uses the three panels of this popular style of internal art to portray three different messages within his morally based scenes.
Garden of Earthly Delights is the most famous work from the artist’s career and sadly because of the fact that he was around as long ago as the 15th century, there are still only a small collection of paintings which are confidently attributed to this excellent artist who was probably the most skilled early North Renaissance artist.
Hieronymus Bosch has much of his work now stored within Spain as it was there that several notable figures became highly interested in his career and started to buy all available works to add to their own collections.
As a direct result of this The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch’s most widely known triptych, is now held at the El Prado Museum.

The Hunters in the Snow Pieter Bruegel
The Hunters in the Snow Pieter Bruegel

Hunters in the Snow

Hunters in the Snow is a Renaissance landscape painting from Pieter Bruegel the Elder and this artist was prominent within the 16th century.
The Hunters in the Snow, also known as Return of the Hunters is his best known work alongside Landscape with a Fall of Icarus and it underlines how some painters did manage to achieve success with landscape paintings in the Renaissance era when it was far less a part of the mainstream than it is today, with the likes of the impressionsits and romanticists who followed several centuries afterwards.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Younger were from an influential family who produced some highly prized paintings over several generations.
Pieter the Elder was certainly the most skilled of all of them, though, and as the earliest was also able to open opportunities for his other family members to take advantage of with their own careers which were also of some artistic note.

Arnolfini Wedding

Arnolfini Wedding Portrait Painting Jan Van Eyck
Arnolfini Wedding Portrait Painting Jan Van Eyck

Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus Painting by Sandro Botticelli
The Birth of Venus Painting by Sandro Botticelli

List of Famous Renaissance Artists

Please see below for a summarised list of the best Renaissance artists that are featured throughout this website.

List of Famous Renaissance Paintings

There is a helpful collection below of some of the finest paintings to have come from the Renaissance era, with each one’s artist provided alongside.

  • Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
  • Pieta (sculpture) by Michelangelo
  • Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
  • Nativity by Donatello
  • Ascension of Christ by Jean Fouquet
  • Elizabeth of Austria Queen of France by Francois Clouet
  • Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger
  • Hare by Albrecht Durer
  • Arnolfini Wedding by Jan van Eyck
  • Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel
  • Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch
  • Vino Rosso by Giulio Romano
  • Trinity by Tintoretto
  • Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese
  • Last Supper by Da Vinci
  • Allegory with Venus and Cupid by Agnolo Bronzino
  • Temptation of Christ by Juan de Flandes
  • Cortona Altarpiece by Fra Angelico
  • Ascension by Giotto di Bondone
  • Holy Trinity by Masaccio

Famous Italian Renaissance Artists

See below for the key Renaissance painters who came from Italy, a country which was fundamental to the whole movement.

  • Leone Battista Alberti
  • Fra Angelico
  • Biagio d’Antonio
  • Giotto di Bondone
  • Donatello
  • Sandro Botticelli
  • Masaccio
  • Domenico Veneziano
  • Filippo Lippi
  • Andrea del Castagno
  • Piero di Cosimo
  • Paolo Uccello
  • Antonello da Messina
  • Pisanello
  • Andrea Mantegna
  • Luca Signorelli
  • Alessio Baldovinetti
  • Piero della Francesca
  • Masolino
  • Andrea del Verrocchio
  • Domenico Ghirlandaio
  • Benozzo Gozzoli
  • Carlo Crivelli
  • Leonardo da Vinci
  • Michelangelo
  • Raphael

Famous German Renaissance Artists

German painters played a key role within the Northern Europe Renaissance and you can see a list of them below.

  • Hans Baldung
  • Lucas Cranach the Elder
  • Lucas Cranach the Younger
  • Albrecht Durer
  • Matthias Grunewald
  • Hans Holbein the Elder
  • Hans Holbein the Younger
  • Ambrosius Holbein

Famous Dutch and Flemish Renaissance Artists

Flemish artists were influential on European art for many centuries and those who were a part of the Renaissance periods included the following.

  • Jean Bellegambe
  • Hieronymus Bosch
  • Dirk Bouts
  • Robert Campin
  • Petrus Christus
  • Jacques Daret
  • Gerard David
  • Hubert van Eyck
  • Jan van Eyck
  • Geertgen tot Sint Jans
  • Hugo van der Goes
  • Adriaen Isenbrant
  • Limbourg brothers
  • Quentin Matsys
  • Hans Memling
  • Joachim Patinir
  • Roger van der Weyden

Famous French Renaissance Artists

French painters were probably more significant within the art movements which followed on after the Renaissance but the few who were impressive within this period are listed below.

  • Jean Fouquet
  • Jean Clouet
  • Francois Clouet
  • Barthelemy d’Eyck
  • Nicolas Froment
  • Jean Hey
  • Simon Marmion
  • Enguerrand Quarton

Famous Spanish Renaissance Artists

Spanish painters played a smaller role within the Renaissance but still had several notable contributors, including those listed below.

  • Bartolome Bermejo
  • Ayne Bru
  • Juan de Flandes
  • Jaume Huguet
  • Paolo da San Leocadio