Painting timeline
A new altarpiece is installed in the cathedral in Ghent, introducing the powerful realism of Jan van Eyck
Giovanni Arnolfini, a merchant from Lucca trading in Bruges, commissions from van Eyck a portrait of himself and his wife
Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, of Burgundy, commissions an altarpiece from Jan van Eyck
Rogier van der Weyden, the third in the extraordinary trio of Flemish artists of the 1430s, is appointed painter to the city of Brussels
Perspective fascinates Italian Renaissance painters after the publication of Alberti's treatise on the subject, De Pictura
The Dominican convent of San Marco, in Florence, is provided with a serenely beautiful series of frescoes by Fra Angelico and his assistants
Piero della Francesca paints masterpieces in his small home town of San Sepolcro
Herat, under Timurid princes, succeeds Tabriz as the main centre of Persian art
Paolo Uccello is interested in the laws of perspective, in works such as The Battle of San Romano
Étienne Chevalier commissions from Jean Fouquet a series of illustrations for his Book of Hours
Oil paints, long familiar in the Netherlands, begin to be adopted in Italy in place of tempera
Andrea Mantegna combines an interest in classical detail and recently discovered perspective
The Sicilian artist Antonello da Messina adopts the Flemish technique of painting in oils
Jerome van Aken works almost exclusively in his native s' Hertogenbosch, from which he derives the name Hieronymus Bosch
Sandro Botticelli is established as one of the leading painters of Florence, working in particular for the Medici
Leonardo da Vinci joins the painters' guild in Florence, probably after training with Verrocchio
Tommaso Portinari, the Medici agent in Bruges, commissions an altarpiece from Hugo van der Goes for his family church in Florence
Giovanni Bellini becomes the key figure in the development of the Renaissance style in Venice
Botticelli paints the Birth of Venus and Spring for the villa of a Medici cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent
Leonardo da Vinci begins an unprecedented series of detailed anatomical drawings, based on corpses dissected in Rome
The lively realism of Kamal-ud-din Bihzad lays the basis of both the Persian and the Mughal schools of painting
Hieronymus Bosch paints the most detailed of his exotically surreal canvases, The Garden of Earthly Delights
Leonardo captures the enigmatic smile of Lisa Gherardini, known now as the Mona Lisa
Michelangelo begins work in Rome on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel
Raphael is summoned to Rome by Julius II and is given a major commission for frescoes