History Painters

History Painters deal with the narrative of historical events from classical and military history, Christian history and mythology, as well as religious and literary subjects. History Painting was a very important genre in the past. The term "history painting" derives from the Italian word "istoria". It was the dominant form of academic painting in the 19th century; ranked number 1 in the hierarchy of the genres by European academies of fine art.

Up until the latter years of the nineteenth century, the highest level of prestige a painter could hope to attain was the exalted art of painting history. [1]

Dante and Virgil in Hell by Eugene Delacroix (1822).

Some famous history painters include: Michelangelo, Titian, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Claude Lorrain, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Francisco de Goya, Jacques-Louis David, William Turner, Eugene Delacroix, Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema and Benjamin Constant.

Some famous American history painters: Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull, Thomas Sully, John Singleton Copley, Emmanuel Leutze, Edward Savage and Benjamin West.

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emmanuel Leutze, 1850.

See also

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Apotheosis of Spain in Royal Palace of Madrid.

• American History Painters
• Portraits
• Landscape
• Famous American Painters
• History of painting
• Gallery of Self-Portrait Paintings
• Historical Painting

External links

• American History Painters.
• The Top 10 Best "History" Painters.
• History Painters. Chronological Listing.