No other 17th-century European painter combined artistic talent, social and economic success and a high cultural level like Rubens. Though primarily a painter, he also made numerous designs for prints, tapestries, architecture, sculpture and decorative objects. His abundant work is strikingly versatile in its subject matter, including paintings on mythological, religious and historical subjects as
Born in Seville, Velázquez adopted his mothers surname, as was common in Andalusia, signing “Diego Velázquez” or “Diego de Silva Velázquez". He studied painting and worked professionally in his native city until he was twenty-four, then moved with his family to Madrid. There, he entered the king’s service, remaining until his death in 1660. Much of his work was painted for the royal collection and
The triumph of Annibale's oeuvre in Rome paved the way for the disciples of the Carracci family to work at the court of the popes, especially when a cardinal of Bologna acceded to the papal throne as Gregory XV. One of these followers was Reni, who is considered the best known and most prolific artist of the Bolognese school and also the most important. He is without a doubt the best artist who em
After studying with his father, painter Antoine Ranc, he moved to Paris in 1697 to complete his training with Hyacinthe Rigaud, and then continued as Rigaud's collaborator. He entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1703 and became an academician in portraiture there in 1707. His master's protection paved the way to a career at court and the possibility of painting various members o
Born to a family of extraordinary artists, he was the son of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and grandson of Pieter Coecke and Mayken Verhulst Bessermers. Tradition has it that she was his first teacher, as his father died when he was a child. According to writer Karel van Mander his principal teacher was Pieter Goetkind. While he was somewhat influenced by the work of his brilliant father, he always fo