Bible Artists

Nicolas Poussin

1594–1665

French

Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) was a French painter who spent most of his mature career in Rome and became one of the leading figures of seventeenth-century classical painting. Biblical history formed an important part of his work alongside subjects drawn from ancient mythology and history. Poussin approached Scripture as a narrative painter. Carefully arran...

Raphael

1483–1520

Italian

Raphael (1483–1520) was an Italian painter, draftsman, and architect who became one of the defining masters of the High Renaissance. Although his life was brief, biblical and Christian subjects occupied a central place in his work. Raphael became especially admired for images of the Virgin and Child, but his religious art extended much further. He painted...

Rembrandt

1606–1669

Dutch

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) was a Dutch painter, draftsman, and printmaker whose biblical subjects form a major part of his work. He returned to Scripture throughout his career and depicted events from both the Old and New Testaments. Rather than concentrating only on spectacle, Rembrandt often focused on the people within the biblical narratives. Gest...

Jusepe de Ribera

1591–1652

Spanish

Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652) was a Spanish Baroque painter and printmaker who spent most of his career in Italy. After working in Rome, he settled permanently in Naples in 1616 and became one of the leading painters of the city. Ribera developed a strongly naturalistic style influenced by Caravaggio. His biblical figures often appear as physically convinc...

Peter Paul Rubens

1577–1640

Flemish

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) was a Flemish painter and one of the leading figures of European Baroque art. Biblical and other Christian subjects occupied a major place throughout his career. Rubens brought extraordinary energy to religious narrative. Figures twist, reach, struggle, grieve, and embrace as the events unfold around them. His years in Italy...

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

1794–1872

German

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794–1872) was a German painter and illustrator associated with the Nazarene movement. The Nazarenes sought to renew Christian art by looking to the spiritual character and clarity they admired in medieval and early Renaissance painting. Schnorr worked on major fresco projects and became an influential teacher and museum dir...

Tintoretto

1518/19–1594

Italian

Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), born Jacopo Robusti, was one of the leading painters of Renaissance Venice. Biblical narrative occupied a central place throughout his long career. Tintoretto developed an intensely dramatic approach in which unusual viewpoints and powerful contrasts of light transform familiar events into immediate experiences. His figures ofte...

James Tissot

1836–1902

French

James Tissot (1836–1902) was a French painter and illustrator whose career moved from fashionable scenes of nineteenth-century society to one of the most extensive visual treatments of the life of Jesus ever undertaken by a major artist. After achieving success in Paris and London, Tissot experienced a renewed interest in his Catholic faith during the 188...

Titian

c. 1488/90–1576

Italian

Titian (c. 1488/90–1576), born Tiziano Vecellio, was the leading painter of sixteenth-century Venice and one of the most influential artists of the Renaissance. His exceptionally long career included portraits and classical subjects as well as a large body of religious art. Titian transformed Venetian painting through his use of color and his increasingly...

Rogier van der Weyden

c. 1399–1464

Netherlandish

Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1399–1464) was one of the most influential painters of the Early Netherlandish tradition. He became particularly renowned for religious paintings in which carefully observed human emotion gives biblical events unusual immediacy. Grief, compassion, fear, devotion, and wonder are communicated through faces and gestures as well as t...

Jan van Eyck

c. 1390–1441

Netherlandish

Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441) was one of the most important painters of the Early Netherlandish tradition. He developed an extraordinarily detailed style in which light, texture, architecture, landscape, inscriptions, and everyday objects could contribute to the meaning of a religious image. Van Eyck did not invent oil painting, as was once popularly claime...

Paolo Veronese

1528–1588

Italian

Paolo Veronese (1528–1588) was an Italian painter who became one of the leading artists of sixteenth-century Venice. He was especially admired for large compositions in which biblical events unfold within magnificent architectural settings. Veronese brought brilliant color and carefully organized groups of figures to religious narrative. His paintings fre...