The mere existence of Giotto’s colourful and starfilled religious orchestral landscapes painted in the late 13th century and early 14th century, puts pay to the commonly peddled narrative that the Italian renaissance of the early-mid fifteenth century rescued European art from dark Medieval obscurity. Painted with great colour, light and emotion, Giotto’s paintings, along with those of Sienna based artist Duccio and his tutor Cimabue, demonstrates a smoother, less revolutionary transition from the Medieval to the early renaissance.

Botticelli’s work is the highlight of any visit to Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, the house of the powerful and influential Medici family. A trio of Botticelli’s works are the main attraction, the Birth of Venus (left), La Primavera, and the Admiration of the Magi. All three paintings demonstrate Botticelli’s eye for beauty in their magnificent and graceful colouring, and creative compositions. The flowing elegant lines of his figures are instantly recognisable, and guarantee a certain emotive connection with the viewer who are pulled in by sheer the energy and magnetism of his paintings.

Venice is a Canaletto painting. For a painter who dedicated almost his entire artist career painting Venetian waterways, it is perhaps fitting that ‘canal’ makes up the first six letters of this artist’s name. The finite detail of a Canaletto landscape can only be appreciated by starring close up. It is only when inches away from the canvas that one sees all the delicate brush strokes depicting oars, rigging and the fine details on the tiled terraced buildings that line the water's edge. In 2005 a Canaletto sold at Sotheby’s for a cool £18.6 million.

Gentileschi is a female tour de force, and a leading figure of the Italian Baroque style. Her paintings have all the dark, brooding presence of her forebear, the great Caravaggio. Many Caravaggio’s have in recent years been reattributed to this little understood Italian Master painter. Known for painting important historical and biblical female figures, her painting of Judith Slaying the Head of Holofernes (left) is a brutal, violent and graphic depiction of female power.

Paolo of Verona is one of the most majestic of all Italian artists. His artworks adorn many a dark Renaissance and Baroque Italian chapel filling the space with colour and awesome beauty. Varonese works tend to be painted on a giant scale, grand historical scenes of feasts and weddings cover inch upon inch of wall space and canvas. There is a great sense of occasion and scene setting with every Varonese painting, with lots of intricate small details of ingenious that add up to one almighty masterpiece.

Titian along with his short-lived contemporary ‘Giorgione’ (1477-1510) helped to establish the Venetian school of painting that dominates a large swath of Italian Renaissance art. Titian’s paintings in particular define this genre with their sharp the contrast of primary and secondary colours, and distinct tonality between light and shade. His compositions always help set up the focal point to help draw the viewer into the centre of the action. Titian’s work demonstrates a man of great knowledge and understanding of the religious scenes he chooses to depict, and a fine and delicate execution to match.

Raphael is the master of soft easy thoughtful expressions. In his lifetime he was a sensation, prosperous, successful and famous. He and his art could, and did little wrong. He was prolific painting, Madonna and Child hundreds of times over, so much so, that when one closes their eyes and thinks of a Madonna holding a child, it is a Raphael that stares back at them. The graceful expressions of Raphael’s religious paintings lift the viewer away from troubles of the modern world and into one of religious calm and beauty.  

Painter, sculptor, architect, naturalist, mathematician, inventor and engineer, Leonardo Di Vinci stands out as a universal genius. It is a great shame that such a talented man, has become most strongly remembered as the artist who painted the Mona Lisa, a rather ordinary portrait of a mercantile women who can barely raise a smile. This is not a masterpiece, but his Last Supper (left) in Milan certainly is. His paintings draw you into the scene they depict, with expressive faces, graceful gestures, together with  a typically vibrant Renaissance palette. Few can and have rivalled this great man’s work.

Caravaggio was the most influential painter of his time, and a great influence to those across Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The National Gallery’s recent exhibition ‘Beyond Caravaggio’ was an absolute triumph of master paintings and storytelling. The romantic naturalism, intense lighting between light and shade, and tight cropping of the scene are all distinct characteristics of Caravagist works. Caravaggio’s works diverge from the vast array of brightly clothed scenes of numerous religious characters typical of the early-mid renaissance, and hone in on the dark, sometimes sinister realism of later Baroque work.

Michelangelo is the Italian Renaissance, and the Italian Renaissance is Michelangelo. His paintings are heavenly and idealistic, portraying muscular Gods, voluptuous beauties and smiling cherubs. His contribution to Western Art from small intimate frescoes through magnificent gigantic masterpieces such as ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are unrivalled. His artworks and sculptures are the highlight of any trip to Rome, and encapsulate the city’s enduring legacy to history and arts. The scale, detail, expression and colour of his work, rank among the best of any artist to have ever taken breath on this planet.