Traditional European art is noted for its portraits and noted portrait painters. Because artists from this period--from the 14th to 19th centuries--strove for realism, it lent itself well to portrait painting.
Possibly the most well-known portrait is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, which can be viewed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Other noted portrait artists were Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, or Rembrandt, who lived in the 17th century; Jan Van Eyck, a Flemish artist from the early 1400s; and Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), an artist from the Baroque period.
Idealism as expressed in religious and mythical themes is evident in art from this era. The Roman Catholic Church had an all-embracing influence on life and culture, and most of the classic European artists incorporated religious themes, as well as religious-mythical themes in their artwork. A masterpiece that captures this is Michelangelo's famous painting in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
After the Protestant Reformation, some artists strove for realism based on their own interpretation and understanding of Christian and Biblical themes.
The Baroque period, from the late 16th century to the early 18th century, featured exaggerated idealism influenced by ideology of the Catholic Church.