Art has existed alongside human development over tens of thousands of years. However, Classical Art Period falls under a specific period. Constant evolution took very drastic turns, but classical art eventually became a true and everlasting phenomenon. Therefore, here are a few masters of classical art who are essential in the history of art for being leading artists in their time, with an unmistakable, popular and influential style:
Classical Art: Giotto, 1267-1337
Italian painter, sculptor, and architect of Trecento.
Generally, he was considered a precursor to the evolution that triggered the Renaissance by breaking the medieval concepts of the Late Middle Ages and the limitations of Byzantine art. Moreover, Giotto is the initiator of three-dimensional space in European painting and contributing majorly towards classical art.
Key work: Series of frescoes of the Scrovegni Chapel.
Classical Art: Jan Van Eyck, H. 1395-1441
Flemish painter of the late Gothic.
He was a leading figure in the transition from the international Gothic to the Flemish school. Specifically, he was considered as the founder of the western portrait as a theme. Thus, he is also known as the “father of oil painting” for the development of his realistic technique and full of details.
Key work: Portrait of the Arnolfini marriage.
Classical Art: El Bosco, H. 1450-1516
He was a Flemish painter of classical art who was difficult to catalog for his personal style and different from other contemporary artists.
Surrealism is anticipated with a universe of dream imagery. Moreover, Bosco has been influential in Pieter Brueghel the Elder who will copy the foundations of his style in several paintings, Additionally, this also took place among the expressionist and surrealists of the twentieth century.
Key work: The garden of delights.
Leonardo Da Vinci, 1452–1519.
A painter, sculptor, draftsman, architect, engineer, philosopher, inventor, Genius of multiple talents, visionary and archetype of the Renaissance man, Da Vinci is the most important artist of classical art.
Although his pictorial work is scarce, his fame is such that his paintings and wall paintings are among the most copied and parodied in history.
Key work: The last dinner.
Michelangelo, 1475-1564
Italian sculptor, painter, and architect of the Renaissance. Specifically, it’s another example of a renaissance artist who triumphs in various disciplines, admires classical art and puts his knowledge and studies on the human body into practice in his work. Moreover, such was the fame of his work in his time that he was known as ‘il Divino’.
Key work: David.
Durer, 1471-1528
Painter, draftsman, engraver, and theorist of German Renaissance art.
An inspiration for other European figures due to the dissemination of their engravings and an important influence of his dramatic self-portraits was Durer’s contribution to classical art.
Key work: Melancholy I.
El Greco, 1541-1614
Mannerist painter of the late Renaissance.
He reached a very personal style in his mature works drawing very elongated and ghostly figures. Considered in his time as an eccentric and marginal painter, he is, however, recognized as one of the greatest Western painters.
Key work: The burial of the Count of Orgaz.
Bernini, 1598-1680
Italian sculptor, architect, and painter of the Baroque.
Bernini was a true virtuoso of the sculpture, and in fact, is commonly associated with the art form. Additionally, he created compositions that capture the climax of the drama and the expression of the characters. So, he is the master chiaroscuro and the effect of material things.
Key work: Ecstasy of St. Teresa
Velázquez, 1599-1660
Spanish painter of the Baroque.
In his maturity he paints ‘alla prima’, quickly and spontaneously but precisely, combining brushstrokes of diluted colors with touches of pigment in the details. Moreover, he was very influential in the painting of Manet. Additionally, the Impressionists also lo looked up to him for simplification and speed of execution.
Key work: Las Meninas.
Rembrandt, 1606-1669
Dutch painter and engraver of the Baroque.
People even celebrate his influences in the field of current photography for the so-called Rembrandt lighting that characterizes many of his portraits. Therefore, his stroke evolves from soft and illusionist to rough with a tactile quality that represents the qualities of the object
Key work: The night round.
