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A photo of Paolo Veronese’s Wedding at Cana by Unknown Photographer –

Here are the most famous Renaissance Paintings

Renaissance paintings are grouped in Renaissance art. Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments that occurred in philosophy, literature, music, science, and technology.

Our highlight in the famous Renaissance Paintings is the Wedding at Cana. This is where the transformation of water into wine happened. It is the first miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John. Here are the most famous Renaissance Paintings.

1. The Mona Lisa

A photo of Monalisa Portrait by Leonardo da Vinci – Wikimedia commons

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. Mona Lisa has been described as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world”.

The painting’s novel qualities include the subject’s enigmatic expression, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modeling of forms, and atmospheric illusionism.

The title of the painting, which is known in English as Mona Lisa, is based on the presumption that it depicts Lisa del Giocondo, although her likeness is uncertain.

The painting is believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506. However, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic. The Mona Lisa has been on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797.

2. The School of Athens

A photo of Rafael’s portrait School of Athens by Ank Kumar –

The School of Athens is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael’s commission to decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

The School of Athens, representing philosophy, was probably the third painting to be finished in the decoration of the Stanza della Segnatura. Take note that the Stanza della Segnatura was the first of the rooms to be decorated in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

The painting is notable for its accurate perspective projection, which Raphael learned from Leonardo da Vinci. This work has long been seen as “Raphael’s masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the Renaissance”.

3. The Birth of Venus

A photo of Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli –

The Birth of Venus is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli. The painting is probably executed in the mid-1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth when she had emerged from the sea fully grown.

The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. It is large but slightly smaller than the Primavera, and where that is a panel painting, this is on the cheaper support of canvas.

Canvas was increasing in popularity, perhaps especially for secular paintings for country villas, which were decorated more simply, cheaply, and cheerfully than those for city palazzi, being designed for pleasure more than ostentatious entertainment.

4. The Last Supper

A photo of Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci –

The Last Supper is a mural painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper painting is dated to c. 1495–1498. The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with the Twelve Apostles, as it is told in the Gospel of John.

The painting’s good handling of space, mastery of perspective, treatment of motion, and complex display of human emotion have made it one of the Western world’s most recognizable paintings and among Leonardo’s most celebrated works.

5. The Venus of Urbino

A photo of Titian’s portrait the Venus of Urbino by Titian –

The Venus of Urbino is an oil painting by the Italian painter Titian. It is also known as Reclining Venus. Painting of the Venus of Urbino seems to have begun in 1532 and was perhaps completed in 1534, but not sold until 1538.

The Venus of Urbino depicts a nude young woman, traditionally identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings of a Renaissance palace. It is now in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence.

The figure’s pose is based on the Dresden Venus, traditionally attributed to Giorgione but for which Titian at least completed the landscape. Titian has moved Venus to an indoor setting, engaged her with the viewer, and made her sensuality explicit; some even believe the figure is engaging in masturbation.

6. The Sistine Madonna

A photo of The Sistine Madonna portrait by Rafael –

The Sistine Madonna is also called the Madonna di San Sisto. It is an oil painting by the Italian artist Raphael, also the painter of The School of Athens. The painting was commissioned in 1512 by Pope Julius II for the church of San Sisto, Piacenza, and probably executed c. 1513–1514.

The canvas was one of the last Madonnas painted by Raphael. Giorgio Vasari called it “a truly rare and extraordinary work”. The painting was moved to Dresden in 1754 and is well known for its influence on the German and Russian art scenes. After World War II, it was relocated to Moscow for a decade before being returned to Germany.

7. Bacchus and Ariadne

A photo of Bacchus and Ariadne portrait by Titian –

Bacchus and Ariadne were painted between 1522–1523 by Titian. Bacchus and Ariadne currently hang in the National Gallery of London. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara.

The subject matter of Bacchus and Ariadne was derived from the Roman poets Catullus and Ovid. The painting is considered one of Titian’s greatest works. Of course, this was not the only famous painting by Titian. There is also The Venus of Urbino.

8. Primavera

A photo of Sandro Botticelli’s portrait Primavera by Sandro Botticelli –

Primavera is a large panel painting in tempera painted by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli in the late 1470s or early 1480s ( The dates are not exact). It has been described as “one of the most written about, and most controversial paintings in the world”

The painting depicts a group of figures from classical mythology in a garden, but no story has been found that brings this particular group together. Most critics agree that the painting is an allegory based on the lush growth of Spring, but accounts of any precise meaning vary.

However, during debates about the painting, many involve Renaissance Neoplatonism which then fascinated intellectual circles in Florence. The subject was first described as Primavera by the art historian Giorgio Vasari who saw it at Villa Castello, just outside Florence, by 1550.

9. The Assumption of the Virgin

A photo of the portrait of the Assumption of Mary by Guido Reni –

The Assumption of the Virgin or Frari Assumption, popularly known as the Assunta is a large altarpiece panel painting in oils by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian. The Assumption of the Virgin was painted in 1515–1518.

The painting remains in the position it was designed for, on the high altar of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari or Frari church in Venice. It is the largest altarpiece in the city, with the figures well over life-size, necessitated by the large church, with a considerable distance between the altar and the congregation.

The images above and below are not Titian’s work, they are by Palma Vecchio. It marked a new direction in Titian’s style, that reflected his awareness of the developments in High Renaissance painting further south, in Florence and Rome, by artists including Raphael and Michelangelo.

10. The Virgin of the Rocks

A photo of Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci –

The Virgin of the Rocks sometimes the Madonna of the Rocks, is the name of two paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Both paintings show Mary and child Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an angel Uriel, in a rocky setting which gives the paintings their usual name.

The version generally considered the prime version, the earlier of the two, is unrestored and hangs in the Louvre in Paris. The other, which was restored between 2008 and 2010, hangs in the National Gallery, London.

The works are often known as the Louvre Virgin of the Rocks and London Virgin of the Rocks respectively. The paintings are both nearly 2 meters (over 6 feet) high and are painted in oil. Both were originally painted on wooden panels, but the Louvre version has been transferred to canvas.

Of course, many other famous Renaissance paintings were not discussed in the article. However, I felt it is better to mention them. Maybe next time we can continue with our list. There are paintings like Annunciation (Leonardo), Lamentation of Christ (Mantegna), and Lady with an Ermine ( Leonardo da Vinci).