Sofonisba Anguisola (c.1532-1625) by Raffaele Soprani (1674), from 'Life Stories of Women Artists, 1550-1800: An Anthology' by Julia K. Dabbs (2009).

The Letters of Michelangelo, 1542.

Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) by Horace Walpole, 1762.

“Madonna Properzia de' Rossi (c. 1490–1530) by Giorgio Vasari - the only chapter Vasari dedicated to female artists in the Renaissance.”

Massaccio (1401-1428) by Giorgio Vasari; “the highest summit of perfection”

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), by Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1672); "he gave himself up to the dark manner”.

Sandro Botticelli c.1445-1510 by Giorgio Vasari - “Now Sandro was fond of jesting…”

Fra Filippo Lippi (c.1406-1469) by Giorgio Vasari - ‘much addicted to the pleasures of sense'.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) by Giorgio Vasari - ‘his name and fame can never be extinguished’.

Giorgione (c.1477-1510) by Giorgio Vasari - ‘born to infuse spirit into painting’.

Cimabue (1240-1302) by Giorgio Vasari - ‘the first light of painting’.