Art Events

1314
to 1327
Giotto Paints the Ognissanti Madonna
In 1311 Giotto returned to Florence, A document from 1313 shows his presence in Rome, where he executed a mosaic for the façade of the old St. Peter's Basilica, commissioned by Cardinal J...
1334 Construction Begins on Giotto's Belltower in Florence
On the death in 1302 of Arnolfo di Cambio, the first Master of the Works of the Cathedral, and after an interruption of more than thirty years, the celebrated painter Giotto di Bondone wa...
1411
to 1413
Donatello Sculpts his Saint Mark
Donatello's Saint Mark (1411-1413), is a marble statue that stands approximately seven feet and nine inches high in an exterior niche of the Orsanmichele church, Florence. Donatello was c...
1428
to 1438
Donatello Collaborates with Michelozzo on the External Pulpit of the Prato Cathedral
The Cathedral of Prato (Italian: Duomo di Prato) is the main Catholic church of Prato, Tuscany, Central Italy and seat of the bishop. It is dedicated to St. Stephen, the first Christian m...
1430 Cosimo de' Medici Commissions Donatello to Sculpt his Bronze David
Around 1430, Cosimo de' Medici, the foremost art patron of his era, commissioned from Donatello the bronze David (now in the Bargello) for the court of his Palazzo Medici. This is now Don...
1453 Donatello's Equestrian Statue, "Gattamelata", is Placed on its Pedestal
Erasmo of Narni (1370 – January 16, 1443), better known as "Gattamelata", (The nickname means "The Honeyed Cat") was among the most famous of the condottieri or mercenaries in the Italian...
1455 Donatello Carves his Mary Magdalene
Donatello was apparently inactive during the last three years at Padua, the work for the San Antonio altar unpaid for and the Gattamelata monument not placed until 1453. He had dismissed ...
1460 Donatello Sculpts his Judith and Holofernes
The bronze sculpture Judith and Holofernes (1460), created by Donatello at the end of his career, can be seen in the Hall of Lilies (Sala dei Gigli), in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Ita...
1469
to 1473
A Young Michelangelo Contributes to the Ark of Saint Dominic
The Arca di San Domenico (Ark of Saint Dominic) is a monument containing the remains of Saint Dominic. It is located in Dominic’s Chapel in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, Italy....
1485
to 1490
Ghirlandaio and his Workshop Paint the Tornabuoni Chapel Frescos
The main chapel of Santa Maria Novella was first frescoed in the mid-14th century by Andrea Orcagna. Remains of these paintings were found during restorations in the 1940s: these included...
1490 Ghirlandaio Paints "An Old Man and his Grandson"
The frescoes in Santa Maria Novella are overcrowded with detail, so that the compositions fail to make their full impact. Some of Ghirlandaio’s smaller panel paintings, particularly the p...
1492 Michelangelo Completes his Wooden Crucifix
The Crucifix is a polychrome wood sculpture thought to be by High Renaissance master Michelangelo, finished in 1492. It is located at the high altar of the Church of Santa Maria del Santo...
1499 Michelangelo Sculpts La Pietà
La Pietà (1499) is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist. Th...
1502
to 1503
Raphael Paints the "Mond Crucifixion"
The Mond Crucifixion (or Crocifissione Gavari; both names are after former owners) is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. An early work influenced by Perugino, it was...
1504 Sep 8 Michelangelo's 'David' is Unveiled
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture sculpted by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504. The 5.17 meter (17 ft) marble statue portrays the Biblical King David in the nude. Unlike previ...
1506 Raphael Paints the "Madonna of the Meadow"
The Madonna with the Christ Child and Saint John the Baptist is a 1506 painting by Raphael, now held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is also known as Madonna del prato (Mado...
1508 Michelangelo is Commissioned to Paint the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, evocat...
1509
to 1510
Raphael Paints the "School of Athens"
The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1510 and 1511 as a part of Rapha...
1511
to 1512
Raphael Paints his Portrait of Pope Julius II
The Portrait of Pope Julius II is a painting attributed to the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. Three portraits that have been attributed to Raphael of Pope Julius II as an old m...
1512 Raphael Paints the Triumph of Galatea
Villa Farnesina is an artistically and architecturally influential Renaissance villa in Via della Lungara, in the central district of Trastevere in Rome. The villa was built for Agosti...
1513
to 1514
Titian Paints "Sacred and Profane Love"
Sacred and Profane Love (also called Venus and the Bride) is an oil painting by Titian, painted around 1513-1514. The painting was commissioned by Niccolò Aurelio, a secretary to the Vene...
1514
to 1515
Raphael Paints the Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione
Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione is an oil painting attributed to the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, circa 1514-1515. Baldassarre Castiglione was a literary figure active ...
1514 Titian Paints "The Feast of the Gods" with Bellini
The Feast of the Gods is an oil painting by the Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, with substantial additions by Titian, who added all the landscape to the left and centre. It i...
1515
to 1516
Raphael Paints his Cartoons for Tapestries at the Sistine Chapel
The Raphael Cartoons are seven large cartoons for tapestries, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, painted by the High Renaissance painter Raphael in 1515-16 and showing scenes ...
1516
to 1518
Titian Paints his Assumption of the Virgin
Assumption of the Virgin (1516-1518) is a large oil painting by Titian. It is located in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, being the largest altarpiece in the city...
1519
to 1526
Titian Paints the "Pesaro Madonna"
Titian shows his patron in a devotional pose, kneeling before the Virgin and presented to her by Saint Peter. Prominently displayed on the step is Saint Peter's key; its diagonal plane, l...
1520
to 1523
Titian Paints "Bacchus and Ariadne"
Bacchus and Ariadne (1520-23) is an oil painting by Titian. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara, for the Camerino d...
1538 Titian Paints the Venus of Urbino
The Venus of Urbino (1538) is an oil painting by the Italian master Titian. It depicts a nude young woman, identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous ...
1543
to 1547
Titian Paints his Portrait of the Vendramin Family
The Portrait of the Vendramin Family is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Titian, executed around 1543-1547. It is in the National Gallery in London. The canvas was commissi...
1546 Titian Paints "Paul III and His Nephews Alessandro and Ottavio Farnese"
The Portrait of Paul III and his Nephews Alessandro and Ottavio Farnese is a painting by the Italian artist Titian, from 1546. It is housed in the Gallerie di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. ...
1550 Giorgio Vasari's "Lives of the Artists" is First Published
The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times, or Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori, as it was origi...
1556
to 1559
Titian Paints "Diana and Actaeon"
Diana and Actaeon is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Titian, finished in 1556-1559, and is considered amongst Titian's greatest works. It portrays the moment in which the god...
1556
to 1559
Titian Paints "Diana and Callisto"
Diana and Callisto is a painting of 1556–59 by the Venetian artist Titian. It is currently part of the Bridgewater or Sutherland Loan, on display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Ed...
1559
to 1575
Titian Paints "The Death of Actaeon"
The Death of Actaeon was a late work by Titian, painted in 1559 to 1575 as an oil on canvas. It is probably one of the two paintings the artist states he has started and hopes to finish (...
1565
to 1570
Titian Paints the Allegory of Prudence
The Allegory of Prudence (c. 1565-1570) is an oil painting by the Italian master Titian. It is in the National Gallery, London. The picture portrays three human heads, facing different...
1575 Titian Paints his Pietà
Pietà is the last painting by the Italian master Titian (c. 1575). It is housed in the Gallerie dell'Accademia of Venice. The picture represents, over the background of a larger niche ...
1628
to 1630
Frans Hals Paints The Gypsy Girl
"What a joy it is to see a Frans Hals, how different it is from the paintings – so many of them – where everything is carefully smoothed out in the same manner." —Vincent Van Gogh
1629 Judith Leyster Paints Serenade
Leyster was particularly innovative in her domestic genre scenes. In them, she creates quiet scenes of women at home, which were not a popular theme in Holland until the 1650s. Much of he...
1630 Judith Leyster Paints Self-Portrait
The show’s centerpiece, a self-portrait from 1632-33, is a delight, lively and ingratiating. Leyster turns away from a half-finished canvas to greet the viewer, resting an arm on the back...
1633 Frans Hals Paints Pieter van den Broecke
In this portrait there is a perfect match of a painter's style to the sitter. Hals's bold, direct manner is ideally suited to portrayal of the Antwerp-born colonial trader Pieter van den ...
1640 Ferdinand Bol Paints Portrait of Elisabeth Bas
Elisabeth Bas (1571, Kampen - 2 August 1649, Amsterdam) was a figure in the Dutch Republic. She was the wife of Jochem Hendricksz. Swartenhont. Swartenhont was a captain in the navy of...
1652 Carel Fabritius Paints A View of Delft
Carel Fabritius (bapt. Feb 27, 1622, Middenbeemster - Oct 12, 1654, Delft) was a Dutch painter and one of Rembrandt's most gifted pupils. Fabritius was born in the ten-year old Beemste...
1653 Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruisdael Paints Bentheim Castle
A magnificent view of the Castle of Bentheim (which is located in Bad Bentheim in Lower-Saxony), dated 1654, suggests that his wanderings extended to Germany. In his last period, from abo...
1658 Willem Claeszoon Heda Paints Still Life with Pie, Silver Ewer and Crab
Willem Claeszoon Heda (December 14, 1594, Haarlem - c. 1680, Haarlem) was one of the earliest Dutch artists devoted exclusively to the painting of still life. Still Life with Pie, Silver...
1663 Ferdinand Bol Paints Governors of the Wine Merchant's Guild of Amsterdam
Ferdinand Bol (June 24, 1616 – August 24, 1680) was a Dutch artist, etcher, and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol fav...
1909
to 1913
Adolf Hitler lives in Vienna
The beautiful old world city of Vienna, capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with its magnificent culture that had seen the likes of Beethoven and Mozart, now had a new resident, a pal...
1913 Wright's Second Trip to Japan; Wright As an "Art Dealer"
Returning to Japan in the spring of 1913, it was clear this time that Wright’s intentions were to spend the full 2-month period solely in the earnest pursuit of Japanese woodblocks. Towar...
1962 Jul 9 Andy Warhol's first one-man art exhibition
His first one-man art-gallery exhibition as a fine artist was on July 9, 1962, in the Ferus Gallery of Los Angeles. The exhibition marked the West Coast debut of pop art. Andy Warhol's fi...
1998 Rainer Maria Latzke Invents the Digital Printing Technique of Frescography
Frescography (from Latin fresco - painting onto "fresh" plaster + Greek graphein - to write) is a method for producing murals digitally on paper, canvas, glass or tiles, invented 1998 by ...
2004 Oct 23 Artsdepot Opens
The artsdepot is a multi-purpose cultural centre located in North Finchley, in the London borough of Barnet. It was officially opened on 23 October 2004 for the enjoyment and development ...