Editing Old Master (section)

{{redirect|Old Masters}}
{{short description|Any skilled painter who worked in Europe before 1800}}
[[File:Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) - Artemisia Gentileschi.jpg|thumb|''[[Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting]]'', [[Artemisia Gentileschi]]]]
In [[art history]], "'''Old Master'''" (or "'''old master'''")<ref>The term is spelled either way in the literature. Major UK and US dictionaries, incl. the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170202011900/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/old_master Oxford Online Dictionaries], [https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=old%20master American Heritage Dictionary], Macmillan, Cambridge, and Random House dictionaries use lowercase; Oxford English Dictionary, Collins, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries also mention the uppercase spelling.</ref><ref name=christies1>[http://www.christies.com/departments/old-master-and-early-british-paintings-70-1.aspx Old Masters Department], Christies.com.</ref> refers to any [[painting|painter]] of [[Aptitude|skill]] who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "[[old master print]]" is an original [[printmaking|print]] (for example an [[engraving]], [[woodcut]], or [[etching]]) made by an artist in the same period. The term "old master [[drawing]]" is used in the same way.

In theory, "Old Master" applies only to artists who were fully trained, were [[Master craftsman|Master]]s of their local [[Guild of Saint Luke|artists' guild]], and worked independently, but in practice, paintings produced by pupils or workshops are often included in the scope of the term. Therefore, beyond a certain level of competence, date rather than quality is the criterion for using the term.