Antique painting

In this section you will find a carefully selected range of antique paintings for sale, including old paintings, antique oil paintings, antique drawings, watercolours, religious paintings, portraits, landscapes, genre scenes, still lifes, early period paintings and works from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

Antique paintings and collectible old paintings

Antique painting occupies an important place within the collecting of art and antiques. Old paintings, oils, drawings, watercolours and works from different periods allow us to approach the history of art through real pieces, created with the techniques, styles and sensibilities of each period.

The interest of these pieces is not limited to their age. An antique painting may have artistic, historical, decorative, documentary and collector’s value. Its technique, support, school, subject, frame, state of preservation, signature, attribution or provenance can make it an especially attractive work for collectors, decorators and art lovers.

The value of antique painting

Antique painting has a special fascination because it preserves the vision of another period. Each old painting reflects a different way of understanding beauty, composition, light, colour, the human figure, religion, nature, portraiture or everyday life.

Many antique paintings were created for churches, chapels, palaces, private homes, institutions, academies or private collections. Some had a devotional function, while others were decorative, commemorative, family-related, academic or purely artistic.

The value of an antique painting depends on many factors: period, artist, school, technique, support, pictorial quality, state of preservation, subject represented, measurements, frame, signature, attribution, provenance and rarity. Its visual strength and ability to fit into a collection or decorative space are also very important.

Types of antique painting

Antique oil paintings

Antique oil paintings are one of the most appreciated types within the antique art market. Oil painting allows great richness of colour, depth, glazes, nuances and textures, which made it one of the main techniques of European painting for centuries.

There are antique oil paintings on canvas, panel, copper, cardboard and other supports. They may represent religious scenes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, mythological scenes, seascapes, architecture, animals or genre subjects.

Old paintings

Old paintings may include works of different techniques, periods and styles. This term covers oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, pastels, gouaches and other framed works or pieces intended for display.

Their interest depends both on the quality of the work and on its age, state of preservation, subject, frame, school, authorship, signature or decorative appeal. A good old painting can bring character, history and elegance to any room.

Antique drawings

Antique drawings have a special charm because they show the artist’s hand in a very direct way. They may be made in pencil, charcoal, ink, red chalk, wash, pastel or other techniques on paper.

Many antique drawings were preparatory studies, academic sketches, portraits, drafts, religious scenes, anatomical studies, landscapes or independent compositions. They are very interesting pieces for collectors of works on paper and lovers of the creative process.

Antique watercolours

Antique watercolours stand out for their transparency, delicacy and luminosity. They were widely used to represent landscapes, urban views, travel scenes, flowers, interiors, portraits and quick studies from life.

Their preservation requires special care, as paper and pigments can be sensitive to light and humidity. When well preserved, antique watercolours are works of great beauty and are very easy to integrate into classical or contemporary decoration.

Antique religious painting

Antique religious painting forms an essential part of the history of European art. For centuries, churches, convents, chapels and private devotions commissioned works dedicated to Christ, the Virgin, saints, martyrs, angels, biblical scenes and episodes of religious life.

These works may have great devotional, artistic and historical value. Their interest increases when they preserve good pictorial quality, clear iconography, an antique frame, religious provenance, inscription, signature, attribution or connection with a particular school.

Antique portraits

Antique portraits allow us to approach people, fashions, gestures, clothing and settings from other periods. They may represent nobles, bourgeois sitters, military figures, religious figures, children, married couples, anonymous people or historical figures.

Antique portraiture is highly valued for its decorative and documentary strength. The quality of the face, expression, clothing, accessories, background, composition and frame can make it a piece of great presence.

Antique landscapes

Antique landscapes show the evolution of the artistic gaze towards nature, the city, the countryside, the sea, mountains or architecture. They may be real, idealised, romantic, genre, academic or naturalist landscapes.

This type of antique painting is especially appreciated for its decorative capacity. An antique landscape can bring depth, serenity, colour and atmosphere to living rooms, offices, libraries, dining rooms and collection spaces.

Antique still lifes

Antique still lifes represent fruit, flowers, food, ceramics, metals, glass, books, instruments or other carefully arranged objects. They are works in which composition, light, textures and detail play a fundamental role.

Antique still lifes are highly appreciated for their decorative beauty and their connection with the European pictorial tradition. They fit especially well in dining rooms, kitchens, living rooms, libraries and spaces with a classical atmosphere.

Early period painting

Early period painting usually refers to antique works created especially between the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. This group includes religious painting, portraits, mythological scenes, still lifes, panels, canvases and works linked to European schools such as Spanish, Italian, Flemish, French or Dutch painting.

Early period paintings are especially interesting because of their age, technique, iconography and connection with great artistic traditions. Works from the 16th century are rarer and more difficult to find, while paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries appear more frequently on the antique art market.

In this type of painting, it is important to assess the support, technique, restoration, state of preservation, quality of execution, school, attribution, frame and provenance. These works may have great historical and museum value.

Antique painting by period

15th-century antique painting

Painting from the 15th century is marked by the transition between the medieval world and the Renaissance. In Europe, Gothic forms still coexist with growing attention to perspective, volume, colour and the observation of reality.

Works from this period are usually scarce, highly sought after and of great historical interest. Religious themes are predominant, especially in panels, altarpieces, Virgins, saints and biblical scenes.

16th-century antique painting

The 16th century was a fundamental period for European painting. The Renaissance reached extraordinary maturity, and the human figure, perspective, landscape, anatomy and composition acquired decisive importance.

In Spain, Italy, Flanders and other artistic centres, schools of enormous quality developed. 16th-century antique painting is usually especially appreciated for its rarity, age and connection with a key moment in the history of art.

17th-century antique painting

During the 17th century, Baroque painting reached enormous strength. The use of light, chiaroscuro, movement, theatricality, emotion and realism gave rise to works of great visual intensity.

Religious painting, portraits, still lifes, genre scenes and major civil or ecclesiastical commissions played a very important role. The Spanish, Italian, Flemish and Dutch schools offer examples of enormous quality in this century.

18th-century antique painting

The 18th century combines Baroque influences with Rococo taste, court painting, portraiture, gallant scenes, late religious painting, landscape and the first changes towards a more modern sensibility.

18th-century antique painting can be very decorative because of its colour, elegance and variety of subjects. In many cases, it still preserves great craftsmanship and a clear connection with religious, aristocratic or bourgeois commissions.

19th-century painting

19th-century painting offers an enormous variety of styles and subjects. Romanticism, academicism, realism, naturalism, Orientalism, history painting, genre painting, landscape painting and the beginnings of modernity coexist throughout this century.

It is one of the most common periods in the antique painting market. 19th-century paintings are highly appreciated for their technical quality, decorative strength and ability to connect with classical, bourgeois, romantic or naturalist tastes.

Early 20th-century painting

Early 20th-century painting often maintains a direct connection with the 19th-century tradition, but also opens the way to more modern languages. Landscapes, portraits, urban scenes, still lifes, regionalist painting and school works remain highly sought after.

These pieces can be especially attractive because of their balance between age, modernity, artistic quality and decorative value.

Buying antique paintings at Antiguedades.es

At Antiguedades.es, we select antique paintings for sale with special attention to authenticity, period, technique, support, state of preservation, artistic quality, subject, signature, attribution, frame, provenance and decorative value.

If you are looking for old paintings, antique oil paintings, antique drawings, watercolours, religious painting, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, early period painting, 19th-century painting or antique art for sale, we recommend visiting this section frequently, as our catalogue is periodically updated with new additions.

If you have any questions about a work, need additional photographs, precise measurements or information about its condition, technique, support, period, school, signature, attribution, frame or provenance, please contact us. We will be happy to help you find the antique painting best suited to your collection, living room, office, library, dining room, gallery or decorative project.