The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art an
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece famous worldwide. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has normally been on display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797.
Maiden of the Blackbird's Field; by Uroš Predić; 1919; oil on canvas; 1.95 x 2.64m; National Museum of Serbia (Belgrade, Serbia)
The Art of Painting; by Johannes Vermeer; 1666–1668; oil on canvas; 1.3 x 1.1 m; Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria)
Venus of Willendorf; c. 26,000 BC (the Gravettian period); limestone with ocre coloring; Naturhistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria)
The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts and artwork created by pre-historic artists, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from
Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave, in Kalimantan, Indonesia, contains one of the oldest known figurative paintings, a 40,000-year-old depiction of a bull.
The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1657
Cave paintings depicting a wild boar hunt in the Maros-Pangkep karst of Sulawesi are estimated to be at least 43,900 years old (2014). This finding was recognized as "the oldest known depiction of storytelling and the earliest instance of figurative art in human history."
In 2021, researchers discovered ancient cave art in Leang Tedongnge, Sulawesi, Indonesia, estimated to be at least 45,500 years old. Depicting a warty pig, this artwork is recognized as the world's oldest known example of figurative or representational art.