26 Famous paintings and images from all art eras

Over the past centuries, countless artists have created millions of paintings. Even today's well-known and established artists have created many works, only a few of which have become famous paintings. In our article we show you the most famous images and paintings from different art periods.

Famous paintings and photographs from all art periods

We have made a selection of famous paintings and images from all art periods. The list is of course not complete and subjective. You will notice that you have a lot of...have heard of the names of these famous paintings before. We give you background information about each painting and mention interesting facts about the paintings. On behalf of Painting by Numbers Expert we wish you a lot of reading pleasure!

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1. Leonardo Da Vinci – Mona Lisa

In our collection of famous paintings the work "Mona Lisa" may beby Leonardo Da Vinci, of course. It is probably the most famous painting in the entire world and from all eras of art. Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa between 1503 and 1506 in Florence. It belongs to the Italian Renaissance and was painted with oil paint.

De bekendheid van dit werk komt ook voort uit het feit dat het in 1911 uit het Louvre in Parijs werd gestolen en zo het gesprek van de dag werd. From 1913 it stood again in its usual place - until today.

Een ander fascinerend punt van dit schilderij zijn de ogen van de Mona Lisa.

2. Michelangelo Buonarroti - The Creation of Adam

The ceiling painting by the famous painter Michelangelo Buonarroti should not be missing from any list of famous painters. De schepping van Adam toont hoe God Adam tot leven wekt met zijn uitgestrekte wijsvinger. This is to symbolize that Adam is descended from God and is part of Him. In terms of content, it belongs to a whole series of nine frescoes.

The ceiling fresco "The Creation of Adam" was completed by Buonarroti in 1512. It measures an impressive 2.8m x 5.7m andshowcases the incredible artistic skills of Michaelangelo Buonarroti. The attention to detail and anatomy was abhorrent for the time.

3. Vincent Van Gogh - Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh should be a household name for anyone interested in art. His work Starry Night is one of the most famous paintings ever. Van Gogh painted this work of art in 1889 in the style of early expressionism with oil paint.

Little is known about how it came to be, except that it was painted at a time when Van Gogh was having mental problems and was in a psychiatric institution.

This painting can be seen in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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4. Edvard Munch - The Scream

Like the Mona Lisa, its fame is partly due to the fact that the painting has been stolen twice. When it was stolen once in 1994, the brazen thieves left a note thanking the artist for poor security. In 2004 it was stolen again, but in 2006 it reappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The Scream consists of a composition of four paintings and was painted by Edvard Munch with oil paint, tempera and pastel on cardboard. Alle vier de schilderijen tonen een menselijke figuur met de handen tegen het hoofd gedrukt en een angstige uitdrukking op het gezicht. The originThis scene had to be attributed to an anxiety attack by Edvard Munch, which struck him during an evening walk.

5. Leonardo Da Vinci - Salvator Mundi

Another Leonardo Da Vinci painting? This now famous work of art should not be missed here, if only for its incredible sales price.

The title Salvator mundi is Latin and stands for "Savior of the world". The painting depicts Christ and was probably painted by Da Vinci around 1500. Originally privately owned until 2000, in 2017 it was sold for an incredible $450 million on the well-known auction platformChristie's, making it the most expensive painting ever sold. A pretty impressive amount for a piece of painted wood, right?

The work measures approximately 65 cm x 45 cm and was painted with oil paint. Da Vinci chose a walnut panel as a painting surface. It is among 14 other paintings by Da Vinci known to date.

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6. Paul Cézanne - The Card Players

Paul Cézanne was a French painter and left a large footprint in painting. He inspired famous names such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Cézanne painted his work "The Card Players" in five different versions. They differ both in size and in the number of people depicted. Four out of five of these paintings are owned by famous museums. However, the fifth painting of this series is privately owned and sold for approximately US$250 million.

Aside from the purchase price, Cézanne's card player series is considered one of his most important ever. They also clearly show how Cézanne turned more and more towards Cubism.

7. Diego Velázquez - Las Meninas

Diego Velázquez is a famous SpanishBaroque painter who was especially appreciated for his portraits. He was a painter at the court of the Spanish king and thus portrayed many members of the Spanish royal court. Probably his most famous painting is "Las Meninas", which depicts the Spanish royal family.

In the center is the king's daughter, who is surrounded by two dwarfs, a guard, ladies-in-waiting and a dog. The special thing about this painting is that Velázquez immortalized himself. He can be seen diagonally to the left behind the king's daughter with a donkey in his hand. In the mirror on the wall you can see the reflections of the queen and the king.

About this image isis often discussed. What is it - a self-portrait, a group portrait, a court family portrait or something completely different? We will probably never know what Velázquez's approach was, but it inspired generations of painters.

8. Rembrandt van Rijn - The Night Watch

One of the most famous, if not the most famous, work of the famous artist Rembrandt van Rijn is his work "The Night Watch". The painting shows Captain Frans Banning Cocq with his vigilantes.

It was the victim of vandalism several times:

1. An unemployed cook, who had previously worked in the navy, stabbed the painting with a knife to take revenge on the state for his unemployment
2. An unemployed teacher cut the canvas from this well-known work. A later restoration made the painting presentable again, but slight traces of the cut can still be seen today.
3. A mentally disturbed person poured sulfuric acid on the cloth. However, the museum's guards were able to save the painting by pouring water on it, which washed away the sulfuric acid.

We can only hope that Rembrandt's masterpiece is spared further damage.

Do you want to paint the Night Watch by numbers? View the Night Watch.

9. Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Lunch of the rowers

The French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir created a total of approximately 6,000 works of art. Some are worth a lot today. One of these is the painting "Lunch of the Rowers", which was created around 1880. The oil painting has a size of approximately 130cm x 170cm.

It shows a group of rowers moving from their l and enjoy. In the background you can see theSeine. The work can be situated in Impressionism and one of Renoir's most important works. The lighting conditions were always central to his works.

10. Jan Vermeer - The Girl with the Pearl Earring

The famous painting "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Jan Vermeer is painted with oil on canvas and painted in the Baroque style. The composition of the painting is relatively simple: apart from the portrait itself, no background or anything from the environment can be distinguished.

Vermeer completed The Girl with a Pearl Earring around 1665, and it came into the spotlight in 2003 when an Oscar-winning film of the same name was released in theaters.

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11. Caspar David Friedrich – Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer

Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer is a painting by Caspar David Friedrich, painted around 1818. It was painted with oil on canvas and has a stately size of approximately 75cm x 95cm. Itis one of the most famous paintings from the Romantic period.

Caspar David Friedrich was a German painter and had a major influence on Romanticism. Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer can be seen in the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

12. Jean-Étienne Liotard - The Chocolate Girl

Jean-Étienne Liotard was an important pastel painter who created probably his best-known work, "The Chocolate Girl", in pastel on parchment around 1745. It is a portrait of a maid, probably at the imperial court in Vienna.

Liotard was in Vienna at the invitation of the Empress when this work of art was created.It is probably one of the most detailed pastel paintings ever.

13.Gustav Klimt - Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer I

"Golden Adele", as the painting is also called, is one of the most famous paintings by the painter Gustav Klimt. It is in the Art Nouveau style and painted with oil paint. Klimt also applied gold and silver leaf, which created an unmistakable elegance.

The painting was commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The assignment was to show Bloch Bauer's wife. Klimt then made many drawings and studies until he created the actual work.

This painting fetched an astronomical price of 135 million US dollars when sold.

14. Claude Monet - The Water Lilies

Claude Monet made a large number of paintings in his series "Water Lilies". He was inspired by water lilies in his garden. Most paintings from this series are in the possession of museums. However, the work "The Water Lilies" was auctioned at Christie's for onlyno less than 41 million British pounds. This was the highest amount ever paid for a Monet.

15. Paul Gauguin - Nafea faa ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)

Paul Gauguin painted this famous work as an oil painting in 1892. Originally exhibited at the Kunst-Museum Basel and later at the Fondation Beyeler, it was sold in 2015 to a wealthy Russian billionaire for 210 million US dollars.

The painting was made as part of a trip Gauguin made to Tahiti, where he hoped to find a place for his creative impulse. But what he found was not what he had in mind: As a resultcolonization in the 18th century, he found a drastically decimated indigenous population. Most of the natives were killed by diseases introduced by the Europeans.

Although Tahiti did not meet his expectations, he painted a large number of paintings there, mainly of indigenous women. Sometimes they were naked, sometimes dressed in traditional or European clothing.

16. Leonardo Da Vinci - The Last Supper

Another famous painting by the famous painter Leonardo Da Vinci is not to be missed: The Last Supper. This is probably the most famous mural in the world. The Secco technique was used to create it, and the mural was completed by Da Vinci in 1497.

The dimensions of this imposing painting are 4m x 9m and it can be stylistically classified as Renaissance. The perspective-correct representation of the landscape in particular was groundbreaking for that time. Less groundbreaking was Da Vinci's technique of not painting on fresh lime plaster. Although this made the colours brighter, it continued to flake over timemore from the painting. Several attempts were subsequently made to restore the mural.

A limited number of visitors can view this unique work every day in the Dominican monastery "Santa Maria delle Grazie" in Milan.

17. Albrecht Dürer – De Haas

The hare is a watercolor by Albrecht Dürer, which at first glance does not seem very impressive. In the center is a hare, painted diagonally in perspective and a neutral background.

Dürer's study of nature was made around 1502. At that time, such photorealistic representations were commonrevolutionary and this work became Albrecht Dürer's most famous painting.

18. Vincent van Gogh - Twelve Sunflowers

Another famous work by van Gogh is the painting "Twelve Sunflowers" from 1888. Van Gogh made a whole series of paintings for this motif. However, the number of sunflowers changes from photo to photo. The sunflowers appear quite brown by today's standards. This was due to the fact that the UV light in combination with the colour pimento used became increasingly brown.

The background of this series was that van Gogh was inspired by the upcoming visit of two of his colleagues: Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. He hoped that he could establish a joint studio with them.

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19. Carl Spitzweg - The Poor Poet

Carl Spitzweg was a German painter. His most famous painting is "The Poor Poet", painted in oil. It shows a writer lying in bed in a shabby shack and working on a work.

Spitzweghad to deal with many rejections for "The Poor Poet". The image was taken as a mockery of the poets' guild and poetry in general. Spitzweg did not live to see the success of this painting - there was even a special German postage stamp for his work. The oil sketch was auctioned in 2012 for approximately 540'00 US dollars.

20. Katsushika Hokusai - The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai was a famous Japanese painter best known for his landscape paintings. The wood engraving "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" is part of a series of 46 prints in which Hokusai depicts the landscape around the mountainFuji depicted.

The series of paintings was made between 1829 and 1833 and became widely known over time. The Great Wave off Kanagawa has been repainted several times.

This is one of the most famous Japanese paintings ever, which is why it should not be missing from our list of famous photos and paintings.

21. Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights

The Dutch painter Bosch created a unique work around 1500. It is a triptych consisting of three parts and showing the third day of the creation of the world. The left wing shows the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, while the center shows the Garden of Earthly Delights. On the right outer wing is hell. The triptych has impressive dimensions of approximately 220cm x 390cm.

When the triptych is folded, you can see the Earth's disk in a transparent sphere at the front and the back of the two outer wings respectively.

The Garden of Earthly Delights is exhibited in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

22. Franz Marc – Der Turm der blauen Pferde

Franz Marc was a German painter and draftsman and a pioneer of expressionism and post-impressionism. In his later creative phases he also used stylistic elements of Fauvism, Cubism and Orphism. However, his artistic work came to an abrupt end when he was drafted into the First World War. Franz Marc died in the war as a result.

His works with animal motifs, including "Der Turm der blauen Pferde", received the most attention. It was made around 1913 and is of considerable size, approximately 200cm x 130cm. Itshows a group of four impressive blue horses.

Unfortunately, the painting can no longer be seen in its original form, because it disappeared towards the end of the Second World War. The last known owner was the National Socialist Hermann Göring, who took possession of this work.

23. Sandro Botticelli - The Birth of Venus

Sandro Botticelli was a Renaissance painter from Italy and had achieved great fame. The work "The Birth of Venus" is a large-scale work, which Botticelli painted with tempera paint on canvas.

Botticelli incorporated ancient influences into his work here. For example, he chose Venus as his subject because she was a well-known figure from ancient times. Her nudity was also something new, as this was unusual in Western art at the time. Botticelli set a trend with this, after which more and more undressed women were again chosen as a motif for images.

24. Albrecht Dürer – The Great Turf

Albrecht Dürer's second famous work besides the field hare is "The Great Turf". Dürer painted watercolor as a study of nature. It shows a piece of pasture that has been composedfrom various herbs and grasses, as well as the earth beneath them. It was painted in 1503 and is fascinating for its attention to detail.

25. Fresco by Raphael - The School of Athens

Raffaello Sanzio was an important Italian painter of the Renaissance. At that time he was known only by his first name Raphael. He was best known for his balanced and harmonious paintings. He worked in Rome at the papal court as a painter and as a construction supervisor of St. Peter's Basilica.

His work "The School of Athens" is a very famous painting, which was completed in 1511.Raphael painted it for Pope Julius the Second. It depicts ancient Greece and antiquity itself as the origin of European culture at that time. The fresco has a gigantic size of 7.7 meters. It is not clear who is depicted in it. It is believed to depict various philosophers and scholars such as Socrates, Aristotle and Diogenes.

26. Pablo Picasso – Guernica

Pablo Picasso's work "Guernica" should not be missing from any top list. Besides "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", this is Picasso's most famous painting. He painted the painting on behalf of the Republican government of Spain. It has gigantic dimensions of 3.50m x 7.75m, giving a total area of ​​27m2.

The content of the painting revolves around the destruction of the Spanish city of Guernica by the German and Italian air forces, who played their role in the Spanish Civil War. The painting was on display at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris.

Picasso's difficulties in creating itpainting were not only the colossal dimensions of the surface to be painted, but also the given proportions. Because the size ratio of twice the width to the height was a challenge for the painting motif. Picasso wanted to create an oppressive scene with collapsing shapes and figures. Pablo Picasso prepared himself meticulously for this; a total of 46 studies and sketches are known.

In addition to linear elements, Picasso also incorporated various facets of cubism here, this is especially visible in the horse and the bull.

The situation of Guernica is unfortunately quite desolate. It's countless timestransported, which meant it had to be rolled up and stretched out again. It also had to withstand an act of vandalism when an unknown person sprayed paint on it in 1974. Attempts were also made to strengthen the structure at the rear, but this was not successful.

It was therefore decided that the painting would no longer be transported. It is now located indefinitely in the Museo Reina Sofie in Madrid.