Old Master

English

Alternative forms

Noun

Old Master (plural Old Masters)

  1. Any of various early (before about 1800 CE) European painters whose works are regarded as superlative.
    • 1893, George Moore, Modern Painting[1]:
      Fifteen years ago it was customary to speak slightingly of the Old Masters, and it was thought that their mistakes could be easily rectified. Their dark skies and black foregrounds hold their own against all Monet's cleverness, and it has begun to be suspected that even if nature be industriously and accurately copied in the fields, the result is not always a picture.
  2. A painting by an Old Master.