Renaissance Masters Quiz: Can You Identify 27 of the Greatest Painters of the Italian Renaissance?

Welcome to the Renaissance Master's Quiz. You'll see portraits of 27 of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance, from its very beginnings to its dazzling height. For each one, you'll get a hint and five seconds to name the painter. When the answer is revealed, you'll also see some of their most famous works. Good luck and let's get started. This short-lived Venetian was a master of mood and mystery, and his few paintings still puzzle scholars today. Giorgione, a master of mystery, he died of the plague around 32, leaving only a handful of certain works. The head of a great Venetian family workshop, this master was famous for warm, glowing color and gentle light. Giovanni Bellini, head of a great Venetian workshop, he taught both Giorgione and Titian. In just a few short years, this young Florentine transformed painting with solid, lifelike figures standing in real space. Masaccio, he revolutionized painting with lifelike depth and light, yet died at only 26 or 27. Traveling up from Sicily, this painter helped bring the northern secret of oil paint to Italy. Antonello da Messina, he brought the northern oil technique to Italy, painting portraits of startling realism. Born a noblewoman, this painter became one of the first women to win real fame across Europe. Sophonisba Anguissola, one of the first renowned women painters, she served the Spanish court and was visited by a young Van Dyck in her 90s. This Florentine broke with the stiff, golden style before him, giving his figures real weight, space, and feeling. Giotto, his frescoes in Padua's Scrovegni Chapel broke from flat Byzantine style and pointed the way to the Renaissance. For most of a very long life, this painter reigned as the supreme master of the Venetian school. Titian, the leading Venetian painter for some 60 years, he served emperors and popes and worked into his 80s. This Venetian loved grand, crowded scenes of feasting and splendor, one of which got him into trouble with the church. Paolo Vernesi, summoned by the Inquisition over a last supper full of dogs and jesters, he simply renamed it Feast in the House of Levi. This painter combined a deep love of mathematics with still solemn figures bathed in clear, even light. Piero della Francesca, as much mathematician as painter, he spent his later years writing treatises on geometry and perspective. This Florentine served the Medici court, painting cool, elegant portraits with an almost enamel-like polish. Bronzino, court painter to the Medici, he gave his sitters an icy, enamel-like elegance. A humble friar, this painter filled quiet monastery walls with soft light and heavenly calm. Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar, he frescoed the monks' cells at San Marco in Florence and was later beatified by the church. Working in Siena, this master gave Italian painting a new tenderness and grace and founded a whole school of art. Due Cioti Buoninsegna, his great altarpiece, the Maesta, was carried to Siena's cathedral in a joyous public procession. This Florentine thought of himself above all as a sculptor, yet he created some of the greatest paintings in history. Michelangelo, sculptor of the David, he spent four years painting the vast Sistine Chapel ceiling. Based in northern Italy, this master loved crisp, sculptural figures and startling, dramatic viewpoints. Andrea Mantegna, his dead Christ is famous for its bold foreshortening viewed from the soles of the feet upward. This Florentine painter was so technically flawless that later writers gave him a telling nickname. Andrea del Sarto, his technique was so polished he was called the painter without errors. This Florentine filled church walls with lively scenes of his own city and ran the workshop that trained Michelangelo. Domenico Ghirlandaio, the young Michelangelo learned to paint in his busy Florentine workshop. This young master became famous for perfect harmony and grace and for his tender images of the Madonna. Raphael, painter of the school of Athens, he died young in Rome by tradition on his 37th birthday and was mourned across the city. This Umbrian master was famous for calm, balanced, spacious paintings and for teaching an even greater pupil. Pietro Perugino, Raphael was his pupil and his serene style shaped the younger genius. This Florentine was so captivated by the brand new science of perspective that it nearly took over his life. Paolo Uccello, he so loved perspective that according to Vasari he stayed up all night calling it his sweet mistress. This Florentine is loved for graceful, flowing figures and dreamlike scenes drawn from myth and poetry. Sandro Botticelli, he painted the birth of Venus in Primavera then fell under the spell of the preacher Savonarola late in life. A leading Florentine sculptor and painter, this master ran the workshop where a young Leonardo learned his craft. Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo learned in his workshop and legend says the pupil's angel so surpassed the master that he gave up painting. A busy painter and architect, this man is remembered even more for a famous book he wrote about other artists. Giorgio Vasari, his book The Lives of the Artists is the source of much of what we know about Renaissance painters. This Venetian painted with such speed and dramatic energy that he earned himself a fiery nickname. Jacopo Tintoretto, he worked so fast and boldly he was nicknamed Il Furioso filling Venice's Scuola di San Rocco with huge canvases. This late medieval Florentine was the most celebrated painter of his day just before a pupil of his would change everything. Ichimabue, legend says he discovered the boy Giotto drawing his sheep on a rock and took him on as his pupil. Painter, scientist and inventor, this Florentine genius left behind some of the most famous images ever made. Leonardo da Vinci, creator of the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper he filled thousands of notebook pages with mirror writing. Born far from Italy this visionary developed a strange elongated style that looked centuries ahead of its time. El Greco, born on Crete and working in Toledo his flame-like figures found real fame only centuries later. This inventive painter delighted a royal court with portraits made of the strangest materials. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, he painted portraits assembled entirely from fruits, vegetables and flowers for the Habsburg court. Congratulations! You've reached the end of the Renaissance Masters quiz. How many did you name? Share your score in the comments challenge a friend to beat it and we'll see you in the next quiz.