1. Michelangelo
- Birth year: 1475
- Death year: 1564
- City/province of birth: Tuscany
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Physical realism, use of light, space, and shadow
- Notable artwork: Madonna of Bruges (1501-1504), The Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1512)
2. Sandro Botticelli
- Birth year: 1445
- Death year: 1510
- City/province of birth: Florence
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Portraits, religious themes, mythology
- Notable artwork: The Birth of Venus (1485–1486), Primavera (1477–1482)
3. Caravaggio
- Birth year: 1571
- Death year: 1610
- City/province of birth: Milan
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Still lifes, religious themes, mythology
- Notable artwork: Boy with a Basket of Fruit (1593), Death of the Virgin (1604–1606)
4. Titian
- Birth year: 1488
- Death year: 1576
- City/province of birth: Pieve di Cadore
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Portraits, religious themes, mythical landscapes
- Notable artwork: Venus of Urbino (1534), Equestrian Portrait of Charles V (1548)
5. Raphael
- Birth year: 1483
- Death year: 1520
- City/province of birth: Urbino
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Religious themes
- Notable artwork: The School of Athens (1509-1511), The Sistine Madonna (1512)
6. Giovanni Bellini
- Birth year: 1430
- Death year: 1516
- City/province of birth: Venice
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Landscape paintings, religious themes
- Notable artwork: Agony in the Garden (1459–1465), San Zaccaria Altarpiece (1505)
7. Leonardo da Vinci
- Birth year: 1452
- Death year: 1519
- City/province of birth: Anchiano
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Portraits, landscapes, human anatomy
- Notable artwork: The Last Supper (1498), Mona Lisa (1503)
8. Andrea Mantegna
- Birth year: 1431
- Death year: 1506
- City/province of birth: Isola Mantegna
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Paintings, religious themes, sculpting, engraving
- Notable artwork: San Zeno Altarpiece (1460), Camera degli Sposi (1465-1474)
9. Donatello
- Birth year: 1386
- Death year: 1466
- City/province of birth: Florence
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Renaissance sculpture style
- Notable artwork: David (1430-1440), Penitent Magdalene (1440)
10. Artemisia Gentileschi
- Birth year: 1593
- Death year: 1653
- City/province of birth: Rome
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Baroque paintings, chiaroscuro techniques
- Notable artwork: Judith Slaying Holofernes (1612-1613), Susanna and the Elders (1610)
11. Giotto
- Birth year: 1267
- Death year: 1337
- City/province of birth: Near Florence
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Religious art, paintings, architecture
- Notable artwork: Kiss of Judas (1306), Crucifixion (1320)
12. Tintoretto
- Birth year: 1518
- Death year: 1594
- City/province of birth: Venice
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Religious and mythological paintings
- Notable artwork: Last Supper (1594), The Origin of the Milky Way (1575)
13. Giorgione
- Birth year: 1477
- Death year: 1510
- City/province of birth: Castelfranco Veneto
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Tonal harmony, landscape paintings, portraiture
- Notable artwork: The Tempest (1508), Sleeping Venus (1510)
14. Amedeo Modigliani
- Birth year: 1884
- Death year: 1920
- City/province of birth: Livorno
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Nudes, portraits with elongated figures and mask-like faces
- Notable artwork: Reclining Nude (1917), Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz (1917)
15. Masaccio
- Birth year: 1401
- Death year: 1428
- City/province of birth: San Giovanni Valdarno
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Chiaroscuro techniques, perspective, naturalism
- Notable artwork: Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (1425), Holy Trinity (1428)
16. Giuseppe Arcimboldo
- Birth year: 1526
- Death year: 1593
- City/province of birth: Milan
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Collage-style creative portrait heads
- Notable artwork: Four Seasons in One Head (1590), Vertumnus (1590)
17. Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- Birth year: 1598
- Death year: 1680
- City/province of birth: Naples
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Religious art and mythological sculptures
- Notable artwork: Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1652), Apollo and Daphne (1625)
18. Sofonisba Anguissola
- Birth year: 1532
- Death year: 1625
- City/province of birth: Cremona
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Portraiture
- Notable artwork: The Chess Game (1555), Self-Portrait at the Easel (1556)
19. Annibale Carracci
- Birth year: 1560
- Death year: 1609
- City/province of birth: Bologna
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Baroque style, religious art, landscapes
- Notable artwork: Venus, Adonis, and Cupid (1590), Landscape with the Flight into Egypt (1603-1604)
20. Andrea del Verrocchio
- Birth year: 1435
- Death year: 1488
- City/province of birth: Florence
- Notable characteristics/subject matter: Expressive sculptures, portraits, realism
- Notable artwork: David (1475), Baptism of Church (1475)