World-Renowned Masterpieces You Should Know About

Even if you're not an art history buff, there are surely masterpieces out there you've seen more than once or know by name. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, for one, is one of the greatest-known artworks out there, as is Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night. Think you know more than those two? Let's see if you're familiar with these 20 most famous historical paintings in the world.

Leonardo da Vinci on Wikimedia

1. Mona Lisa

If you were asked what was the most famous painting in the world, you'd likely say Mona Lisa. Painted with oils on a panel of poplar wood, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece remains a global renown. It's believed to have been created sometime between 1503 and 1519, and it now stands behind panes of bulletproof glass in the Louvre Museum.

The Free Birds on Unsplash

2. The Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night is one of his most celebrated works, which features numerous blazing stars over a hillside town. Painted during his stay at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum—where he'd committed himself to—in Saint-Rémy shortly before his breakdown, the landscape's swirling scene likely was inspired by his then turbulent state of mind.

Vincent van Gogh on Wikimedia

3. The Scream

While you may be familiar with Edvard Munch's The Scream, what might surprise you is the fact that it came about during a panic attack. As he was walking down Kristiania (present-day Oslo), he saw the clouds turning blood-red at sunset, and painted the shrieking colors.

Maurizio Pesce from Milan, Italia on Wikimedia

4. Girl with a Pearl Earring

Girl with a Pearl Earring is one of Johannes Vermeer's most famous paintings (and just one of his 36 known works), created with oil colors on a small 17.5 x 15in canvas. The subject portrayed, who's believed to have been Vermeer's maid, wears an extravagant dress with a large pearl earring as she peers over her shoulder at the viewer.

Johannes Vermeer on Wikimedia

5. The Kiss

An opulent masterpiece painted with oils and gold leaf, The Kiss is one of Gustav Klimt's most notable works. It depicts two lovers sharing an intimate moment on a grassy field—some believe it to be him and his life partner, Emilie Flöge, though this remains a speculation.

Gustav Klimt on Wikimedia

6. Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1

Also known as Whistler's Mother, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 was painted by American-born James McNeill Whistler in 1871 at his London studio. More than just a symbolism of motherhood, the painting seems to be a study of right angles, given the tautness of Anna Whistler's form.

James McNeill Whistler on Wikimedia

7. The Birth of Venus

Sando Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, believed to have been painted on canvas—deemed unusual at the time—during the late 15th century, is one of the world's most recognized works. In it, Venus stands nude, wind-swept and showered in roses, blown ashore by Zephyrus and Aura, while the goddess of Spring, Flora, awaits her with a cloak.

Yair Haklai on Wikimedia

8. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is Georges Seurat's 1884 rendering of the working class, who often flocked to suburbs outside the heart of Paris. During the two years Seurat spent crafting this painting, he made over 70 drafts for it, and had been developing the pointillism technique at the time. 

Georges Seurat on Wikimedia

9. The Harvesters

If you've ever visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you've likely seen Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Harvesters, where it's been displayed since 1919. Part of a commissioned series of six paintings, the scene in this particular painting portrays the balmy late summer of harvest time.

Yair Haklai on Wikimedia

10. The Last Supper

Another renowned masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci is The Last Supper. Painted for the Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery in Milan sometime between 1495 and 1498, it has since been restored countless times, the last reconstruction having taken 21 years. Why, you might ask? Due to a failed experiment by da Vinci using tempera and oil paints on dry plaster—instead of traditional fresco painting, which was done quickly—the painting started to flake off.

Leonardo da Vinci on Wikimedia

11. Liberty Leading the People

Liberty Leading the People is an 1830 oil painting by Eugène Delacroix celebrating the fall of King Charles X during the July Revolution. He was inspired by the real-life scenes of heightened violent protests after Charles X issued July Ordinances on July 26, 1830, which restricted freedom of the press and dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, among others.

Nadar on Wikimedia

12. The Raft of the Medusa

Painted by Théodore Géricault in 1819, the backstory behind The Raft of the Medusa stems from the 1816 shipwreck of the namesake French Royal Navy vessel, where 147 survivors climbed onto a weak raft. During the 13-day ordeal, many died from starvation while others resorted to murder and cannibalism. 

Gaeddal on Wikimedia

13. The School of Athens

The School of Athens remains Raphael's most famous paintings—and one of the most renowned artworks of the Renaissance. In it, it depicts highly recognized Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle (who stand at the center), along with Pythagoras, Euclid, and Socrates.

Adonia on Wikimedia

14. Las Meninas

Painted by Diego Velázquez in 1656, Las Meninas offers a complex perspective, an illusion of sorts. It remains unknown who the true subject of the portrait is (is it Margarita Teresa, daughter of King Philip IV and second wife Maria Anna, who stands at the center?) and what they're looking at (the reflection of Teresa's parents plastered on the back wall mirror, or us?).

Jan Arkesteijn on Wikimedia

15. The Persistence of Memory

Known also as Melting Clocks, The Persistence of Memory is perhaps one of the most important works of Surrealism painted by Salvador Dali. Though the scene depicted seems bizarre—bent, runny clocks perched on the shoreline of Cap de Creus—it's believed by art historians to have been inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

Stephen Dawson on Wikimedia

16. Guernica

As with many of Pablo Picasso's works, Guernica wasn't met with high praise during its initial reveal in the Pavilion of the Spanish Republic at the Paris International Exhibition in 1937. Perhaps it was due to the subject matter of the painting—an antiwar rendering of the Guernica bombing by German air force—and the fact that Picasso rarely mixed politics with art. Despite this, it went on to become an iconic masterpiece and is now housed at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Pedro Belleza on Wikimedia

17. Impression, Sunrise

Impressionism owes its name to Claude Monet's 1872 painting, Impression, Sunrise. First displayed at an exhibition put together by Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas in 1874, the artwork is Monet's view from his window as the sun broke over the harbor of Le Havre, his hometown.

Claude Monet on Wikimedia

18. The Garden of Earthly Delights

At first, it might not seem entirely clear what this triptych depicts, a cluttered scene of familiar figures—like Adam and Eve—and eerie beasts seemingly penned from fervid nightmares. But The Garden of Earthly Delights isn't so complex once you realize that it was born from Hiëronymus Bosch's belief that earth, heaven, and hell co-existed.

Hieronymus Bosch on Wikimedia

19. The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel was a frequent subject of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who painted as many as three notable works from 1552 to 1563 depicting its construction. While the first of the series is now lost, the two remaining ones can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder on Wikimedia

20. The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Hokusa's The Great Wave off Kanagawa is part of a 36-print series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. In it, three boats ride a tumultuous sea, with Mount Fuji seen at the far back under the crest. Because it's likely one of the most reproduced works in history, it's not surprising if you've seen it on the face of books and posters.

After Katsushika Hokusai on Wikimedia