The best works of art in the world. The most beautiful paintings in the world
The majestic and diverse Russian painting always pleases the audience with its inconstancy and perfection of art forms. This is the peculiarity of the works of famous masters of art. They always surprised with their unusual approach to work, reverent attitude to the feelings and sensations of each person. Perhaps that is why Russian artists so often depicted portrait compositions that vividly combined emotional images and epicly calm motifs. No wonder Maxim Gorky once said that an artist is the heart of his country, the voice of the entire era. Indeed, the majestic and elegant paintings of Russian artists vividly convey the inspiration of their time. Like the aspirations of the famous author Anton Chekhov, many sought to bring into Russian paintings the unique flavor of their people, as well as the unquenchable dream of beauty. It is difficult to underestimate the extraordinary canvases of these masters of majestic art, because truly extraordinary works of various genres were born under their brush. Academic painting, portrait, historical painting, landscape, works of romanticism, modernism or symbolism - all of them still bring joy and inspiration to their viewers. Everyone finds in them something more than colorful colors, graceful lines and inimitable genres of world art. Perhaps such an abundance of forms and images that Russian painting surprises with is connected with the huge potential of the surrounding world of artists. Levitan also said that in every note of lush nature there is a majestic and unusual palette of colors. With such a beginning, a magnificent expanse appears for the artist's brush. Therefore, all Russian paintings are distinguished by their exquisite severity and attractive beauty, from which it is so difficult to break away.Russian painting is rightly distinguished from world art. The fact is that until the seventeenth century, domestic painting was associated exclusively with a religious theme. The situation changed with the coming to power of the tsar-reformer - Peter the Great. Thanks to his reforms, Russian masters began to engage in secular painting, and icon painting separated as a separate direction. The seventeenth century is the time of such artists as Simon Ushakov and Iosif Vladimirov. Then, in the Russian art world, the portrait was born and quickly became popular. In the eighteenth century, the first artists appeared who switched from portraiture to landscape painting. The pronounced sympathy of the masters for winter panoramas is noticeable. The eighteenth century was also remembered for the birth of everyday painting. In the nineteenth century, three trends gained popularity in Russia: romanticism, realism and classicism. As before, Russian artists continued to turn to the portrait genre. It was then that world-famous portraits and self-portraits of O. Kiprensky and V. Tropinin appeared. In the second half of the nineteenth century, artists more and more often depict the simple Russian people in their oppressed state. Realism becomes the central trend of painting of this period. It was then that the Wanderers appeared, depicting only real, real life. Well, the twentieth century is, of course, the avant-garde. The artists of that time significantly influenced both their followers in Russia and around the world. Their paintings became the forerunners of abstractionism. Russian painting is a huge wonderful world of talented artists who glorified Russia with their creations
The greatest works of world painting, which had a significant impact on the development of world art and human culture in general. The works of painting included in this list have largely shaped the idea of humanity about beauty and are the basis of the creative and cultural education of any person.
The main masterpieces of European and world painting
Duccio (c. 1260–1318/1319)
Madonna Rucellai
1285. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Giotto (1266/1267–1337)
The Capture of Christ, or the Kiss of Judas
Between 1303 and 1305. Fresco of the Chapel del Arena (Scrovegni) in Padua
Simone Martini (c. 1284–1344)
Annunciation
1333. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Andrei Rublev (c. 1360–1430)
Trinity
OK. 1425–1427 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Masaccio (1401–1428)
Madonna and Child with Four Angels
The central part of the polyptych. 1426. National Gallery, London
Fra Beato Angelico (c. 1400–1455)
Transfiguration
Fresco. 1440–1441. Monastery of San Marco, Florence
Piero della Francesca (c. 1420–1492)
Baptism of Christ
OK. 1450. The central part of the polyptych. National Gallery, London
Jan van Eyck (c. 1390/1400–1441)
Ghent altarpiece
Closed everyday view. OK. 1425–1432 Cathedral of St. Bavo, Ghent
Ghent altar. Open holiday view
OK. 1425–1432 Cathedral of St. Bavo, Ghent
Portrait of a man in a red turban
1433. National Gallery, London
Portrait of the Arnolfini couple
1434. National Gallery, London
Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400–1464)
St. Luke painting the Madonna
1450. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431–1506)
Plafond with false oculus
Fresco. OK. 1464–1474 Camera degli Sposi, Mantova
Dead Christ
After 1474. Brera Pinacoteca, Milan
Hugo van der Goes (between 1435 and 1445–1482)
Altar of Portinari
The central part of the triptych. OK. 1476–1478 Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Sandro Botticelli (1444/1445-1510)
Minerva and the centaur
1482. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Spring
1478. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Birth of Venus
OK. 1482–1483 Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Antonello da Messina (c. 1430–1479)
St. Jerome in the cell
Between 1456 and 1474. National Gallery, London
Giovanni Bellini (c. 1433–1576)
Sacred Allegory (Madonna of the Lake)
1490–1500. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Madonna in the Meadow
OK. 1500. National Gallery, London
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
Madonna in the rocks
1483–1486 Louvre, Paris
The Last Supper
1495–1498 Wall painting. Tempera, oil on plaster. Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Madonna Litta
1490s State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)
1503. Louvre, Paris
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1460–1516)
Removing the Stupid Stone
Before 1500. Prado, Madrid
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Between 1510 and 1515. Triptych. Prado, Madrid
ship of fools
OK. 1500. Louvre, Paris
Carrying the Cross
1515–1516 Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)
self-portrait
1493. Louvre, Paris
self-portrait
1500. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Altar of All Saints, or Adoration of the Holy Trinity
1511. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Adam and Eve
1507. Diptych. Prado, Madrid
four apostles
1526. Diptych. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538)
Battle of Alexander the Great with Darius III at Issus
1529. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)
Female portrait
1526. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Adam and Eve
1526. Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Portrait of Duke Henry the Pious
Michelangelo (1475–1564)
The Sistine Chapel
Fresco. 1508–1512 General view of the ceiling painting. Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome
Creation of Adam
Fall and Expulsion from Paradise
Fresco. 1508–1512 Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome
Holy Family (Tondo Doni)
1504. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Last Judgment
Fresco. 1536–1541 Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome
Titian Vecellio (1476/1477 or 1488/1490–1576)
Denarius of Caesar
1516–1518 Art gallery, Dresden
Heavenly love and earthly love
1518. Borghese Gallery, Rome
Venus Urbinskaya
OK. 1538. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Danae
1560s. National Prado Museum, Madrid
Raphael (1483–1520)
Donna velata (veiled lady)
OK. 1516. Palazzo Pitti, Florence
Madonna in green
1506. Art History Museum, Vienna
Sistine Madonna
1514. Picture gallery, Dresden
Athenian school
Fresco. 1510–1511 Stanza della Senyatura, Vatican City, Rome
Portrait of Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi Rossi
1517. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Hans Baldung (c. 1484/1485–1545)
Three ages of man and death
OK. 1541–1544 Prado, Madrid
Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540)
Descent from the Cross
1521. City Pinakothek, Volterra
Jacopo Pontormo (1494–1557)
Descent from the Cross
1525–1528 Church of Santa Felicita, Florence
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1498–1543)
Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam
1523. Louvre, Paris
Ambassadors
1533. National Gallery, London
Portrait of King Henry VIII
OK. 1539. National Gallery, Rome
Agnolo Bronzino (1503–1572)
Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo with her son Giovanni
1544–1545 Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Parmigianino (1503–1540)
Madonna with a long neck
OK. 1535. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Giorgione (1477/1478–1510)
Storm
Between 1506 and 1510. Accademia Gallery, Venice
Judith
Before 1504. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Sleeping Venus
OK. 1508. Picture gallery, Dresden
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Vertumn. Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumn
1591. Skokloster Castle, Sweden
Paolo Veronese (1528–1588)
Adoration of the Magi
Early 1570s. National Gallery, London
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (between 1525 and 1530–1568)
The Battle of Carnival and Lent
1559. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Hunters in the snow
1565. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
tower of babel
1563. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
El Greco (1541–1614)
Burial of Count Orgaz
1586–1588 Church of Santo Tome, Toledo
Laocoön
1613–614. National Gallery of Art, Washington
View of Toledo
OK. 1600. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Caravaggio (1573–1610)
Bacchus
1594. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
fortune teller
Before 1595. Louvre, Paris
Conversion of Saul
1600–1601 Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
Self portrait with Isabella Brandt
1610. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Procession of Silenus
1618. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Toilet of Venus
1615. Private collection
The abduction of the daughters of Leucippus
OK. 1618. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Portrait of the Maid Infanta Isabella
OK. 1625. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Three Graces
Frans Hals (between 1581 and 1585–1666)
Gypsy
1628–1630 Louvre, Paris
Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652)
limp
1642. Louvre, Paris
Girl with a tambourine
1637. Private collection
St. Inessa in the dungeon
1641. Picture gallery, Dresden
Diego Velasquez (1599–1660)
Venus in front of a mirror
1649–1651 National Gallery, London
Spinners, or the Myth of Arachne
1650s National Prado Museum, Madrid
Meninas
1656. Prado, Madrid
Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)
self-portrait
Between 1627 and 1632. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Willem Claesz Heda (1593/1594–1680/1682)
Still life with cancer
1650–1659 National Gallery, London
Georges de Latour (1593–1652)
Sharpie with an ace of diamonds
1620s–1630s Louvre, Paris
Newborn (Christmas)
1640s Museum of Fine Arts, Rhine
Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)
Landscape with Polyphemus
1649. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
arcadian shepherds
1650. Louvre, Paris
Claude Lorrain (1600–1682)
The Abduction of Europa
OK. 1635. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Morning
1661. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669)
Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees
1635. Picture gallery, Dresden
Danae
1636. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Return of the prodigal son
OK. 1668. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
The night Watch
1642. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/1629–1682)
Landscape with windmill
ca.1670. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Jan Wermeer (1632–1675)
Artist's workshop (allegory of painting)
OK. 1667. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Lacemaker
1664. Louvre, Paris
Girl with a pearl earring
1664–1665 Royal Cabinet of Paintings, The Hague
Jean Antoine Watteau (1684–1721)
Gilles
1717–1719 Louvre, Paris
Pilgrimage to the island of Cythera
1717. Louvre, Paris
Canaletto (1697–1768)
Reception of the French Ambassador in Venice
1725–1726 State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
William Hogarth (1697–1764)
Shrimp girl
1740–1745 National Gallery, London
Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699–1779)
Girl with a shuttlecock
OK. 1740. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Jean Étienne Lyotard (1702–1789)
chocolate girl
1743–1745 Parchment paper, pastel. Art gallery, Dresden
François Boucher (1703–1770)
Toilet of Venus
1751. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792)
Portrait of Colonel of the Grenadiers Georg K. H. Kusmaker
1782. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cupid unties the belt of Venus
1788. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Young Hare
1788–1789 Louvre, Paris
Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788)
Portrait of a lady in blue
Late 1770s. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Portrait of Robert Andrews with his wife Frances
OK. 1748. National Gallery, London
Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779)
self-portrait
OK. 1773. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806)
Happy Swing Opportunities
OK. 1768. Wallace Collection, London
Johann Heinrich Fuseli (1741–1825)
Nightmare
OK. 1790. Goethe Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Francisco Goya (1746–1828)
Umbrella
1777. Prado, Madrid
Maha nude
OK. 1800. Prado, Madrid
Maha dressed
OK. 1800. Prado, Madrid
Portrait of Dona Isabel Cobos de Porcel
1805. National Gallery, London
Milkmaid from Bordeaux
1827. Prado, Madrid
Jacques Louis David (1748–1825)
The First Consul Crosses the Alps at the Saint Bernard Pass
1801. National Palace Museum, Malmaison
Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840)
On a sailboat
Between 1818 and 1820. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
John Constable (1776–1837)
Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden
1823. Victoria and Albert Museum, London
jumping horse
1825. Royal Academy of Arts, London
hay wagon
1821. National Gallery, London
William Turner (1775–1851)
The last voyage of the ship "Brave"
1838. National Gallery, London
Karl Bryullov (1799–1852)
The last day of Pompeii
1833. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780–1867)
Portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Riviere
1805. Louvre, Paris
Large odalisque
1814. Louvre, Paris
Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)
Raft "jellyfish"
1819. Louvre, Paris
Camille Corot (1796–1875)
woman with a pearl
1869. Louvre, Paris
Carriage of hay
1865–1870 State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Eugene Delacroix (1798–1863)
Freedom at the Barricades (July 28, 1830)
1831. Louvre, Paris
Alexander Ivanov (1806–1858)
Appearance of Christ to the People
1837–1857 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Theodore Rousseau (1812–1867)
Clearing. Les l'Isle-Adam
1849. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Jean Francois Millet (1814–1875)
Gatherers of ears
1857. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Angelus
1857–1859 Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900)
Ninth Wave
1850. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
Artist's workshop
1855, Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898)
Girls by the sea
Before 1894. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Arnold Böcklin (1827–1910)
Dead island
1880. Art Museum, Basel
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)
Syrian Astarte
1877 City Art Gallery, Manchester
Alexey Savrasov (1830–1897)
The Rooks Have Arrived
Édouard Manet (1832–1883)
Flutist
1866. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Breakfast on the grass
1863. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Olympia
1863. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Music at the Tuileries
1863. National Gallery, London
Ivan Shishkin (1832–1898)
Morning in a pine forest
1889. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
James Whistler (1834–1903)
Symphony in White No. 1: The Girl in White
1862. National Gallery of Art, Washington
Edgar Degas (1834–1917)
Absinthe (In a cafe)
1876. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
blue dancers
OK. 1899. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Combing woman
OK. 1886. Pastel. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Ivan Kramskoy (1837–1887)
unknown
1883. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Alfred Sisley (1839–1899)
Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne
1872. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Flooding in Port Marly
1876. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Paul Cezanne (1839–1906)
Maslenitsa (Pierrot and Harlequin)
1888. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Still life with apples and oranges
OK. 1900. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Smoker
1890–1892 State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Mount Sainte Victoire
1900. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
big bathers
1906. Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Claude Monet (1840–1926)
Camille Monet with her son Jean (Lady with an umbrella)
1875. National Gallery of Art, Washington
"Paddling pool"
1869. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Impression. Sunrise
1872. Museum Marmottan, Paris
Boulevard of the Capuchins
1873. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Poppies near Argenteuil
1873. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Rouen Cathedral. Sun effect, sunset
1892. Museum Marmottan, Paris
A pond with nymphs. Pink harmony
1900. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Odilon Redon (1840–1916)
With closed eyes
1890. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Lodge
1874. Courtauld Institute Gallery, London
Ball at the Moulin de la Galette
1876. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Rowers breakfast
1880–1881 Private collection
Nude
1876. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Portrait of Jeanne Samary
1877. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin
Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)
red roofs
1877. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Arkhip Kuindzhi (1841–1910)
Moonlit night on the Dnieper
1880. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Berthe Morisot (1841–1895)
At the cradle
1872. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Vasily Vereshchagin (1842–1904)
Apotheosis of war
1871. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Henri Rousseau (1844–1910)
Jaguar attack on a horse
1910. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
self-portrait
1890. National Gallery, Prague
Ilya Repin (1844–1930)
Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan November 16, 1581
1885. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Vasily Surikov (1848–1916)
Morning of the archery execution
1881. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926)
Bogatyrs
1898. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)
girl holding fruit
1893. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Are you jealous?
1892. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?
1897-1898. Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Self portrait with severed ear and pipe
1889. Private collection
Night cafe in Arles
1888. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
Starlight Night
1889. Museum of Modern Art, New York
Georges Seurat (1859–1891)
Sunday walk on the island of Grand Jatte
1884–1886 Art Institute, Chicago
Valentin Serov (1865–1911)
girl with peaches
1887. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901)
Toilet (Redhead)
Gustav Klimt (1862–1918)
Kiss
1908. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Edvard Munch (1863–1944)
scream
1893. National Gallery, Oslo
Henri Matisse (1869–1954)
red fish
1912. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
red room
1908–1909 State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Dance
1910. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935)
Black suprematist square
1913. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Georges Braque (1882–1963)
Houses in Estaca
1908. Art Museum, Bern
Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920)
Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne in a yellow sweater
OK. 1919. S. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Composition VIII
1923, Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)
Absinthe drinker
1901. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Girl with a dove
1901. National Gallery, London
Girl on the Ball
1905. State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
Avignon maidens
1907. Museum of Modern Art, New York
Portrait of Ambroise Vollard
1909–1910 State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, Moscow
René Magritte (1898–1967)
Golconda
1953. Menil Collection, Houston
Salvador Dali (1904–1983)
Young woman standing by the window
1925. Reina Sofia Art Center, Madrid
The Persistence of Memory
1931. Museum of Modern Art, New York
Boiled Bean Soft Construction: A Premonition of Civil War
1935–1936 Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Appearance of a face and a bowl of fruit on the seashore
1938. Wordsworth's Athenium, Hartwood
A dream inspired by the flight of a bee around a pomegranate a moment before awakening
1944. Collection of Thyssen-Bornemisza, Lugano
200 best paintings of all time. Rating Ranker
Ranker is a well-known digital media company (USA) specializing in compiling lists of opinions on various topics. The company's website features user surveys on entertainment, brands, sports and culture, and hundreds of thousands of opinion lists. The project is one of the largest opinion databases in the world.
100 Great Paintings
"100 Great Paintings" (100 great paintings) - British television series, released in 1980 on the BBC. Series host and creator Edwin Mullins chose 20 themed groups and featured five well-known paintings in each group. The selection is quite varied, from 12th century China to the 1950s, with an emphasis on European paintings.
1000 Meister Werke
"1000 MeisterWerke2 (1000 masterpieces) is a German television series produced by WDR from 1980 to 1994. In each of the 10-minute episodes, one picture is presented and analyzed with the help of art historians. The series was very popular and attracted up to five million viewers in the evening broadcast .
The article presents 22 paintings from different times, which are masterpieces of world art and are the property of all mankind.
The painting is kept in the Louvre, Paris, France. The Mona Lisa might not have gained worldwide fame if it had not been stolen in 1911 by an employee of the Louvre. The painting was found two years later: the thief responded to an ad in a newspaper and offered to sell the Gioconda to the director of the Uffizi Gallery. All this time, while the investigation was going on, the Mona Lisa did not leave the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world, becoming an object of copying and worship. 
The painting is kept in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
Over the more than 500 years of the existence of the work, the fresco has been destroyed more than once: a doorway was made through the painting, and then a doorway was laid, the refectory of the monastery, where the image is located, was used as an armory, a prison, and bombed. The famous fresco has been restored at least five times, with the most recent restoration taking 21 years. Today, in order to view the work, visitors must book tickets in advance and can only spend 15 minutes in the refectory. 
The work is stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
The icon of the Holy Trinity, painted by Andrei Rublev in the 15th century, is one of the most famous Russian icons. The icon is a board in a vertical format. The tsars (Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Mikhail Fedorovich) “encased” the icon with gold, silver and precious stones. Today the salary is stored in the Sergiev Posad State Museum-Reserve. 
The painting is located in Florence in the Uffizi Gallery.
The work illustrates the myth of the birth of Aphrodite. The naked goddess floats to the shore in an open shell, driven by the wind. On the left side of the picture, Zephyr (the west wind), in the arms of his wife Chlorida, blows on a shell, creating a wind filled with flowers. On the shore, the goddess is met by one of the graces. The Birth of Venus is well preserved due to the fact that Botticelli applied a protective layer of egg yolk to the painting. 
Stored at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
According to the author of the picture, the failure that befell the construction of the Tower of Babel is not due to language barriers that suddenly arose according to the biblical story, but to mistakes made during the construction process. At first glance, the huge building seems solid enough, but upon closer inspection, it is clear that all the tiers are laid unevenly, the lower floors are either unfinished or are already collapsing, the building itself is tilting towards the city, and the prospects for the entire project are very sad. 
The painting is stored in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow.
The painting ended up in Russia thanks to the industrialist Ivan Abramovich Morozov, who bought it in 1913 for 16,000 francs. In 1918, the personal collection of I. A. Morozov was nationalized. At the moment, the painting is in the collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin. 
The painting is in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov, when he acquired the painting, erased his signature, so now only Shishkin is indicated as the author of the painting. 
Aivazovsky's painting is kept in St. Petersburg in the Russian State Museum.
Ivan Aivazovsky is a world famous Russian marine painter who has dedicated his life to depicting the sea. He created about six thousand works, each of which received recognition during the life of the artist. The painting "The Ninth Wave" is included in the book "100 Great Paintings". 
The painting is kept in the Louvre, Paris.
Delacroix wrote a work based on the July Revolution of 1830 in France. In a letter to his brother on October 12, 1830, Delacroix writes: "If I did not fight for the Motherland, then at least I will write for her." The bare chest leading the people symbolizes the selflessness of the French people of that time, who with "bare chest" went to the enemy. 
The masterpiece is kept in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The original title of Rembrandt's work is "Speech of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg". Art critics who discovered the painting in the 19th century thought that the figures were standing against a dark background, and they called it “Night Watch”. Later it turned out that a layer of soot makes the picture dark, and the action actually takes place during the day. However, the picture has already entered the treasury of world art under the name "Night Watch". 
The painting is stored in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
The original title of the painting is "Madonna and Child". The modern name of the painting comes from the name of its owner - Count Litta, the owner of a family art gallery in Milan. There is an assumption that the figure of the baby was not painted by Leonardo da Vinci, but belongs to the brush of one of his students. This is evidenced by the posture of the baby for the author's manner. 
The painting is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
The fairy tale "About sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka" is taken as a basis. Initially, Vasnetsov's painting was called "Fool Alyonushka". Orphans were called “fools” at that time. “Alyonushka,” the artist himself later said, “as if she had been living in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw her in Akhtyrka when I met one simple-haired girl who struck my imagination. There was so much longing, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes ... Some kind of special Russian spirit emanated from her. 
The work is kept in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
The painting "The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus" is considered the personification of courageous passion and bodily beauty. The strong, muscular arms of young men pick up young naked women to put them on horseback. The sons of Zeus and Leda steal the brides of their cousins. 
The painting is in the Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg.
The painting depicts the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. e. and the destruction of the city of Pompeii near Naples. The image of the artist in the left corner of the picture is a self-portrait of the author. 
The painting is kept in the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden, Germany.
The picture has a little secret: the background, which looks like clouds from a distance, upon closer examination turns out to be the heads of angels. And the two angels depicted in the picture below have become the motif of numerous postcards and posters. 
The painting is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
The plot of the work is inspired by Lermontov's poem "The Demon". The demon is an image of the strength of the human spirit, internal struggle, doubts. Tragically clasping his hands, the Demon sits with sad, huge eyes directed into the distance, surrounded by unprecedented ones. 
The painting is exhibited at the State Tretyakov Gallery.
The artist painted this picture for several months. Subsequently, Kazimir Malevich made several copies of the Black Square (according to some sources, seven). According to one version, the artist was unable to complete the work on the painting in the right time, so he had to cover up the work with black paint. Subsequently, after the recognition of the public, Malevich painted new "Black Squares" already on blank canvases. Malevich also painted the paintings "Red Square" (two copies) and one "White Square". 
The painting is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
According to the author himself, the picture was painted as a result of associations that arose in Dali at the sight of processed cheese. Returning from the cinema, where she went that evening, Gala quite correctly predicted that no one who saw "The Persistence of Memory" once would forget it. 
The painting is kept at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Unlike most of the artist's paintings, Starry Night was painted from memory. Van Gogh was at that time in the Saint-Remy hospital, tormented by bouts of insanity. 
The fresco is in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
The painting "The Creation of Adam" is the fourth of the nine central compositions of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, dedicated to the nine plots of the book of Genesis. The fresco illustrates the episode: “And God created man in His own image” 
The painting is in the Musée Marmottan in Paris.
The name of the work "Impression, soleil levant" with the light hand of the journalist L. Leroy became the name of the artistic direction "Impressionism". The painting was created from nature in the old outport of Le Havre in France. 
The painting is in the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
The Folies Bergère is a variety show and cabaret in Paris. Manet often visited the Folies Bergère and ended up painting this painting - the last before his death in 1883. Behind the bar, in the midst of a crowd of drinking, eating, talking and smoking, a barmaid is absorbed in her own thoughts, watching a trapeze acrobat, which can be seen in the upper left corner of the picture.
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The mysterious world of art may seem confusing to an inexperienced person, but there are masterpieces that everyone should know. Talent, inspiration and painstaking work on every stroke give rise to works that are admired centuries later.
It is impossible to collect all the outstanding creations in one selection, but we have tried to select the most famous paintings that collect gigantic queues in front of museums around the world.
The most famous paintings by Russian artists
"Morning in a pine forest", Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky
Year of creation: 1889Museum
Shishkin was an excellent landscape painter, but he rarely had to draw animals, so Savitsky, an excellent animal painter, painted the figures of the cubs. At the end of the work, Tretyakov ordered Savitsky's signature to be erased, believing that Shishkin had done much more extensive work.
"Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581" by Ilya Repin
Years of creation: 1883–1885Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
To create a masterpiece, better known as "Ivan the Terrible kills his son", Repin was inspired by the symphony "Antar" by Rimsky-Korsakov, namely, its second movement called "The Sweetness of Revenge". Under the influence of the sounds of music, the artist depicted a bloody scene of murder and subsequent repentance, observed in the eyes of the sovereign.
Seated Demon, Mikhail Vrubel
Year of creation: 1890Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The painting was one of thirty illustrations drawn by Vrubel for the anniversary edition of the works of M.Yu. Lermontov. The "seated demon" personifies the doubts inherent in the human spirit, the subtle, elusive "mood of the soul." According to experts, the artist was to some extent obsessed with the image of a demon: this painting was followed by "Demon flying" and "Demon defeated".
"Boyar Morozova", Vasily Surikov
Years of creation: 1884–1887Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The plot of the Old Believer life "The Tale of the Boyar Morozova" formed the basis of the picture. The understanding of the key image came to the artist when he saw a crow spreading its black wings like a spot on a snowy canvas. Later, Surikov searched for a prototype for the noblewoman’s face for a long time, but could not find anything suitable, until one day he met an Old Believer woman with a pale, frantic face in the cemetery. The portrait sketch was completed in two hours.
"Bogatyrs", Viktor Vasnetsov
Years of creation: 1881–1898Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The future epic masterpiece was born as a small pencil sketch in 1881; for further work on the canvas, Vasnetsov painstakingly collected information about the heroes from myths, legends and traditions for many years, and also studied authentic ancient Russian ammunition in museums.
Analysis of Vasnetsov's painting "Three Heroes"
"Bathing the Red Horse", Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
Year of creation: 1912Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Initially, the painting was conceived as an everyday sketch from the life of a Russian village, but during the work the artist’s canvas acquired a huge number of symbols. By the red horse, Petrov-Vodkin meant "The Fate of Russia"; after the country's entry into the First World War, he exclaimed: "So that's why I painted this picture!". However, after the revolution, pro-Soviet art critics interpreted the key figure of the canvas as a "harbinger of revolutionary fires."
"Trinity", Andrey Rublev
Year of creation: 1411Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The icon that laid the foundation for the tradition of Russian icon painting of the 15th-16th centuries. The canvas depicting the Old Testament trinity of angels who appeared to Abraham is a symbol of the unity of the Holy Trinity.
The Ninth Wave, Ivan Aivazovsky
Year of creation: 1850Museum
A pearl in the "cartography" of the legendary domestic marine painter, who can be without hesitation classified as one of the most famous artists in the world. We can see how miraculously surviving sailors after the storm cling to the mast in anticipation of a meeting with the "ninth wave", the mythical apogee of all storms. But the warm shades that dominate the canvas give hope for the salvation of the victims.
"The Last Day of Pompeii", Karl Bryullov
Years of creation: 1830–1833Museum: Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Completed in 1833, Bryullov's painting was originally exhibited in the largest cities of Italy, where it caused a real sensation - the painter was compared with Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael ... At home, the masterpiece was met with no less enthusiasm, securing Bryullov's nickname "Charles the Great". The canvas is truly great: its dimensions are 4.6 by 6.5 meters, which makes it one of the largest paintings among the creations of Russian artists.
The most famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci
"Mona Lisa"
Years of creation: 1503–1505Museum: Louvre, Paris
A masterpiece of Florentine genius that needs no introduction. It is noteworthy that the painting received cult status after the incident with the abduction from the Louvre in 1911. Two years later, the kidnapper, who turned out to be a museum employee, tried to sell the painting to the Uffizi Gallery. The events of the high-profile case were covered in detail in the world press, after which hundreds of thousands of reproductions went on sale, and the mysterious Mona Lisa became an object of worship.
Years of creation: 1495–1498Museum: Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Five centuries later, a fresco with a classical story on the wall of the refectory of a Dominican monastery in Milan is recognized as one of the most mysterious paintings in history. As conceived by Da Vinci, the picture depicts the moment of the Easter meal, when Christ notifies the disciples of the imminent betrayal. The sheer quantity of hidden symbols has given rise to an equally vast array of studies, allusions, borrowings, and parodies.
"Madonna Litta"
Year of creation: 1491Museum: Hermitage, St. Petersburg
The painting, also known as the Madonna and Child, was kept in the collection of the Dukes of Litta for a long time, and in 1864 it was bought by the St. Petersburg Hermitage. Many experts agree that the figure of the baby was not painted personally by da Vinci, but by one of his students - a pose that is too uncharacteristic for a painter.
The most famous paintings of Salvador Dali
Year of creation: 1931Museum: Museum of Modern Art, New York
Paradoxically, the most famous work of the surrealist genius was born from the thought of Camembert cheese. One evening, after a friendly dinner that ended with appetizers with cheese, the artist immersed himself in thoughts about the “spreading pulp”, and his imagination painted a picture like a melting clock with an olive branch in the foreground.
Year of creation: 1955Museum: National Gallery of Art, Washington
A traditional plot that received a surreal canvas using arithmetic principles studied by Leonardo da Vinci. The artist put the original magic of the number "12" at the forefront, moving away from the hermeneutical method of interpreting the biblical story.
The most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso
Year of creation: 1905Museum: Pushkin Museum, Moscow
The painting became the first signs of the so-called "pink" period in the work of Picasso. A rough texture and a simplified style are combined with a sensitive play of lines and colors, a contrast between the massive figure of an athlete and a fragile gymnast. The canvas was sold along with 29 other works for 2 thousand francs (in total) to the Parisian collector Vollard, changed several collections, and in 1913 it was acquired by the Russian philanthropist Ivan Morozov, already for 13 thousand francs.
Year of creation: 1937Museum: Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid
Guernica is the name of a city in the Basque country that was bombed by the Germans in April 1937. Picasso had never been to Guernica, but was stunned by the scale of the catastrophe, like a "blow of a bull's horn." The artist conveyed the horrors of war in an abstract form and showed the real face of fascism, veiling it with bizarre geometric shapes.
The most famous paintings of the Renaissance
"Sistine Madonna", Raphael Santi
Years of creation: 1512–1513Museum: Old Masters Gallery, Dresden
If you look closely at the background, which at first glance consists of clouds, you will notice that in fact Raphael depicted the heads of angels there. The two angels located at the bottom of the picture are known almost more than the masterpiece itself, due to the wide circulation in mass art.
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
Year of creation: 1486Museum: Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The painting is based on the ancient Greek myth about the birth of Aphrodite from sea foam. Unlike many masterpieces of the Renaissance, the canvas has survived to this day in excellent condition thanks to the protective layer of egg yolk with which Botticelli prudently covered the work.
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarotti
Year of creation: 1511Museum: Sistine Chapel, Vatican
One of the nine frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, illustrating the chapter from Genesis: "And God created man in his own image." It was Michelangelo who first portrayed God as a wise-haired old man, after which this image became archetypal. Modern scientists believe that the contours of the figure of God and angels represent the human brain.
"Night Watch", Rembrandt
Year of creation: 1642Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The full title of the painting is "Speech of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenbürg." The painting received its modern name in the 19th century, when it was found by art historians, who, because of the layer of dirt covering the work, decided that the action in the painting takes place under the cover of night darkness.
The Garden of Earthly Delights Hieronymus Bosch
Years of creation: 1500–1510Museum: Prado Museum, Madrid
Perhaps the most famous Bosch triptych, named after the central part of the composition: the figures depicted on it selflessly indulge in the sin of voluptuousness. In contrast to the full of small, "bustling" details of the middle part, depicting a true paradise, the left wing of the picture conveys an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, and the right wing, full of diabolical mechanisms, on the contrary, recalls hellish torments.
The most famous paintings of the XX century
"Black Square", Kazimir Malevich
Year of creation: 1915Museum: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Malevich wrote Black Square for several months; the legend says that a painting is hidden under a layer of black paint - the artist did not have time to finish the work on time and, in a fit of anger, smeared over the image. There are at least seven copies of the "Black Square" made by Malevich, as well as a kind of "continuation" of the Suprematist squares - "Red Square" (1915) and "White Square" (1918).
"Scream", Edvard Munch
Year of creation: 1893Museum: National Gallery, Oslo
Due to the inexplicable mystical effect on the viewer, the painting was stolen in 1994 and 2004. There is an opinion that the picture created at the turn of the 20th century anticipated numerous catastrophes of the coming century. The deep symbolism of The Scream has inspired many artists, including Andy Warhol, directors, musicians, and even animators.
Walk, Marc Chagall
Year of creation: 1918Museum: Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
If you were also tormented by the question: “Why do people in the painting by Marc Chagall soar in the air?”, Here is the answer from the artist himself - the power that can give a person the opportunity to fly is nothing more than love. It is believed that the man and woman on the canvas are Marc Chagall and his wife.
"No. 5, 1948", Jackson Pollock
Year of creation: 1948Museum: Private collection, New York
This painting still causes a lot of controversy. Some art historians believe that the hype around the painting, painted in the proprietary spatter technique, was artificially created. The canvas was not sold until all the other works of the artist were bought, respectively, the price for a non-objective masterpiece skyrocketed. Number Five was sold for $140 million, making it the most expensive painting in history.
Diptych Marilyn, Andy Warhol
Year of creation: 1962Museum: Tate Gallery, London
A week after the death of Marilyn Monroe, the scandalous artist began work on the canvas. 50 stencil portraits of the actress were applied to the canvas, stylized in the pop art genre based on a 1953 photograph.
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