I Look So Good, I'll Paint Myself Quiz

Answer: Albrecht Dürer

Born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1471, Albrecht Dürer is widely regarded as the greatest of the artists from the Northern Renaissance, the movement centered in the European countries north of the Alps in the early 16th century. One of the first European landscape artists, he also revolutionized the art of woodcutting.
Dürer's "Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe", painted in oil on linden wood in 1500, is housed at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, one of the world's oldest art galleries. Whether he intended the "Christ-like" look is not known.
(Note: the inscription above the subject's left shoulder in the actual painting has been blacked out to avoid giving away the answer.)

Answer: Raphael

Born Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino in Urbino in the Marche region of central Italy in 1483, he is known simply as Raphael. Although he died when aged only 37, Raphael is regarded today as one of the trinity of great masters of the period along with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

Many of his greatest works can be seen today in the "Raphael Rooms" in the Vatican Palace. His best-known painting is "The School of Athens" which resides at the Vatican. He is also known for his portraits, including a famous 1512 depiction of Pope Julius II. Raphael's 1506 "Self-Portrait" oil on panel is housed at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, one of the world's oldest and most famous art museums.

Answer: Titian

Born Tiziano Vecelli in Venice in the late 1480s, Titian was most significant member of the 16th-century Venetian school. An accomplished portrait painter, Titian's depiction of Emperor Charles V established the new genre of grand equestrian portraits. He also produced landscapes, mythological works and numerous religious pieces including his famous three-tiered "Assunta".
Titian's "Self-Portrait" oil on canvas was painted around 1562 and is now part of one of the world's leading collection of European art on display at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.

Answer: Diego Velázquez

Born Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez in Seville, Spain in 1599, Diego Velázquez is widely recognized as the principal portrait painter of the Spanish Golden Age. He was the court painter for King Philip IV of Spain, who he painted more than forty times in addition to numerous paintings of other members of the royal household. He also painted a famous portrait of Pope Innocent X in 1650, during one of his visits to Italy.
Diego Velázquez's "Self-Portrait" in oil on canvas is on display at the Saint Charles Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Valencia, Spain's leading art school since 1768.

Answer: Peter Paul Rubens

Sir Peter Paul Rubens was actually born in Germany, in Siegen in Westphalia in 1577. As well as being one of the most influential artists of the Baroque period, Rubens was also a scholar and a diplomat: he was knighted by both King Charles I of England and by King Philip IV of Spain.

His works cover a broad spectrum from royal portraits through religious and mythological scenes, but his legacy is, perhaps, that he left us the word 'Rubenesque' to describe full-bodied women, of which he painted many. Classic examples are his 1613 "Venus at the Mirror", the 1635 "The Three Graces" and the 1639 "The Judgment of Paris" (the latter two now on display in the Prado in Madrid). Rubens' "Self-Portrait without a Hat", an oil on panel, was painted between 1613 and 1617.

It is now part of the collection at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence.

Answer: Rembrandt

Born Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in Leiden, Netherlands in 1606, the artist known today simply as Rembrandt made something of a habit of painting himself, with more than 50 paintings, 32 etchings and seven drawings. Widely considered one of the most important painters in European art history, he began as a portrait painter.

He also became known for his biblical scenes too: his 1635 painting "Belshazzar's Feast" can be seen at the National Gallery in London and "The Prodigal Son in the Tavern" is on display at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

His most famous work, though, is the 1642 painting called "The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq" which is usually known simply as "The Night Watch" and is displayed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This particular Rembrandt pictured here is titled "Self-portrait in a Feathered Hat". Painted in oil on a beech panel in 1635, it was donated to the National Trust in 2010 and is now on display at Buckland Abbey in Yelverton, near Plymouth.

Answer: Thomas Gainsborough

Born in Sudbury, Suffolk in 1727, Thomas Gainsborough was one of the most important painters of the 18th century. He painted numerous portraits ranging from his daughters playing with their cat to members of the royal family. His most famous painting is "The Blue Boy", a depiction of the son of a wealthy merchant, on display at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.
Gainsborough's 1787 "Self-Portrait" in oil on canvas is part of the collection at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Answer: Francisco Goya

Born Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes in Fuendetodos in the Aragón region of north-eastern Spain in 1746, Francisco Goya is considered the last of the "Old Masters" and the first of the modern. The court artist during the Peninsular War between Spain and France (1808-14), his portraits include Joseph Bonaparte (the pretender king Joseph I) and of the restored King Ferdinand VII. One of his most famous paintings from that era, "The Third of May 1808" (also known as "El Tres de Mayo de 1808 en Madrid" and "Los Fusilamientos de la Montaña del Príncipe Pío") is today one of the primary attractions at Madrid's Prado Museum.

At the same gallery are some of his so-called "Black Period" works (1819-1823) including the dramatic "Saturn Devouring His Son" and "Witches' Sabbath" (aka "The Great He-Goat"). Disturbing images indeed! The pictured work, Goya's "Self-Portrait with Spectacles", an oil on canvas painted between 1797 and 1800, can be seen at the Musee Goya in Castres.

Answer: Caspar David Friedrich

Caspar David Friedrich, born in Greifswald in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region of northern Germany in 1774, is widely considered the most significant German artist of his era. Many of his works are allegorical landscapes with figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, or Gothic ruins.

His best-known works include the 1818 painting "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog" (on display at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg), the haunting "Moonrise Over the Sea" from 1822 (which can be seen at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin) and the 1835 "The Stages of Life" (located at the Museum der Bildenden Künste in Leipzig). Friedrich's 1810 "Self-Portrait" in black chalk can be seen at the Gemäldegalerie art museum in Berlin.

Answer: J.M.W. Turner

Born Joseph Mallord William Turner in the Covent Garden area of London in 1775, he is widely known today by just his initials, J.M.W. Turner, and is today considered the most important landscape painter of his generation. Although most of his masterpieces are oil paintings, he is also regarded as one of the great masters of watercolour landscape painting.

His most famous painting is known as "The Fighting Temeraire", although the full title of this 1839 work that is now housed at the National Gallery in London is "The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken up".

Other highlights include "Rain Steam and Speed: the Great Western Railway" from 1844 (also in the National) and "Ancient Italy - Ovid Banished from Rome" from 1838. Turner's most famous self-portrait was painted in 1799 and is on display at Tate Britain in London.

The pictured one is earlier, an oil on canvas painted between 1791 and 1793, and can be seen at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indiana USA.