Ancient Rome

• Cocceius Auctus, Roman architect during the age of Augustus
• Lucius Vitruvius Cordo, Roman architect; known for his work Arco dei Gavi
• Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor under the reign of Trajan
• Rabirius, Roman architect active during the reign of Domitian
• Vitruvius, Roman writer, architect and engineer; author of De architectura, regarded as the oldest surviving text on the history of architecture

Middle Ages

• Guglielmo Agnelli (c. 1238–1313), sculptor and architect. He built the campanile of the Badia a Settimo.
• Pietro Baseggio (14th century), architect and sculptor. In 1361, he was named superintendent of construction for the Doge's palace.
• Bartolomeo Bon (died after 1464), sculptor and architect. Among his works are Gothic Ca' d'Oro (1424–1430) and the marble door of the church of Frari.
• Bertolino Bragerio (active c. 1288), builder of the cathedral of Cremona.
• Jacopo Celega (d. 1386), architect. Around 1330 he took over construction of the church of Frari.
• Diotisalvi (12th century), architect
• Maginardo (fl. 1006–1032), architect active in the Diocese of Arezzo
• Lorenzo Maitani (c. 1275–1330), architect and sculptor; primarily responsible for the construction and decoration of the façade of Orvieto Cathedral.^[2]

Renaissance

• Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), artist, architect and theoretician. He wrote De Re Aedificatoria in 1452; was the first architectural treatise of the Renaissance.
• Galeazzo Alessi (1512–1572), architect. His main works are the church Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, the Marino Palace (started in 1557) and the Parodi Palace (1567).
• Donato Bramante (1444–1514), architect. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, he drew up the new St. Peter's Basilica.
• Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), architect. His major work is the dome of the Florence Cathedral (1420–1436).
• Bernardo Buontalenti (c. 1531–1608), architect, engineer, designer, painter and inventor. He was one of the great Renaissance polymaths.^[3]
• Giacomo della Porta (c. 1533–1602), architect whose work represents the development in style from late Mannerism to early Baroque.
• Giovanni Maria Falconetto (1468–1535), architect and painter. Examples of his work include the Porta San Giovanni and the Porta Savonarola, two gates to the city of Padua.
• Filarete (c. 1400– c. 1469), architect, sculptor and writer. He wrote an important treatise, Libro architettonico (1464), defending the principles of ancient architecture.
• Domenico Fontana (1543–1607), architect who worked on St. Peter's Basilica and other famous buildings of Rome and Naples.
• Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1502), architect and theoretician. His Trattato di architettura, ingegneria e arte militare (1482) is one of the most important documents of Renaissance architectural theory.
• Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara (died 1500).
• Giuliano da Maiano (c. 1432–1490), architect; made an important contribution to spreading the Renaissance style to Southern Italy.
• Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1443–1516), sculptor, architect and military engineer; designed the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri at Prato and palaces in Florence.
• Luciano Laurana (c. 1420–1479), principal designer of the Palazzo Ducale at Urbino and one of the main figures in 15th century Italian architecture.^[4]
• Pirro Ligorio (c. 1510–1583), architect, painter, antiquarian and garden designer, known for his designs for the Casina of Pio IV in the Vatican and his gardens for the Villa d'Este at Tivoli.
• Michelozzo (1396–1472), architect and sculptor; designed the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, which set the standard for Renaissance palace architecture in Tuscany for the next century.^[5]
• Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), architect and theoretician. His treatise I quattro libri dell’architettura (1570) made him the most influential person in the history of Western architecture.
• Baldassare Peruzzi (1481–1536), architect and painter
• Antonio da Sangallo the Elder (c. 1453–1534), architect. He executed, under the influence of Bramante, the Church of the Madonna di San Biagio (1518–consecrated 1529).
• Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1484–1546), architect. He designed the Palazzo Farnese in Rome (1534–46); a fortress like Florentine-style palace.
• Michele Sanmicheli (1484–1559), architect, especially noted for his original treatment of military fortifications.
• Jacopo Sansovino (1486–1570), sculptor and architect. His Library of St. Mark's is one of the major architectural works of the 16th century.
• Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552–1616), architect and theoretician, author of one of the most comprehensive Renaissance treatises, the six-volume L’Idea dell’Architettura Universale (1615).^[6]
• Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554), architect and theoretician. He is remembered primarily for his treatise Tutte l'opere d'architettura et prospetiva (eight books, 1537–1575).
• Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–1573), architect. Among his works are the Villa Farnese for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and Villa Giulia for Pope Julius III.

Baroque

• Francesco Borromini (1599–1667), architect. His buildings include the churches of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1638–1641) and Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (1642–1660).
• Cosimo Fanzago (1591–1678), architect and sculptor; exponent of Baroque architecture in Naples
• Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714)
• Rosario Gagliardi (1698–1762), Sicilian Baroque architect
• Guarino Guarini (1624–1683), architect. He was one of the first to analyse with perceptivity the structure of medieval architecture, in his treatise Architettura Civile (published posthumously in 1737).
• Filippo Juvarra (1678–1736), architect, draughtsman and designer
• Baldassarre Longhena (1598–1682), architect known for the Church of Santa Maria della Salute
• Carlo Maderno (1556–1629), architect; directed the construction of St. Peter's Basilica for a time
• Pietro da Cortona (1596–1669), architect, painter and decorator known for the Church of Santi Luca e Martina
• Carlo Rainaldi (1611–1691), architect of the Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli (1663–1667)
• Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700–1771), Baroque architect active in Russia
• Vincenzo Sinatra (1720–1765), architect. Following the 1693 Noto earthquake, Sinatra was responsible for many of the new buildings in the new city of Noto.
• Nicola Salvi (1697–1751), architect known for the Trevi Fountain.
• Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702–1768), architect, worked in the Sicilian Baroque style
• Luigi Vanvitelli (1700–1773), architect
• Andrea Giganti (1731–1787), architect

Neoclassicism

• Alessandro Antonelli (1798–1888), architect, known for Mole Antonelliana in Turin and the Novara Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Gaudenzio in Novara
• Nicola Bettoli (1780–1854), architect, known as the designer of the Neoclassicist Teatro Regio, and Duches Marie Louise (1821).
• Luigi Cagnola (1762–1833), architect, whose work influenced later generations of Italian architects.
• Luigi Canina (1795–1856), archaeologist and architect. He was important as a protagonist of archaeologically correct Neoclassicism in Rome.
• Antonio Corazzi (1792–1877), architect. He designed a number of imposing public buildings in Warsaw.
• Alessandro Galilei (1691–1737), architect. He designed the façades of Basilica of St. John Lateran (1733–1735) and San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (1734).
• Giacomo Leoni (1686–1746), architect
• Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia (1729–1814), architect. One of his works is Casina Cinese (1799–1802).
• Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778), engraver and architect, known for his grandiose architectural constructions.
• Giacomo Quarenghi (1744–1817), architect and painter, known as the builder of numerous works in Russia during and immediately after the reign of Catherine II the Great.^[7]
• Carlo Rossi (1775–1849), architect, who worked the major portion of his life in Russia.
• Francesco Sabatini (1722–1797), architect, who worked in Spain.
• Francesco Tamburini (1846–1891), architect who designed many important architectural landmarks in Argentina.
• Faustino Trebbi (1761–1836), architect and ornamental painter.
• Giuseppe Valadier (1762–1839), architect, urban planner, designer and writer. He was one of the most important exponents of international Neoclassicism in central Italy.

The 1900s

• Franco Albini (1905–1977), architect, urban planner and designer. His work was various and eclectic, and reflected the independence of Italian designs from the tyrannies of Modernist orthodoxy.
• Gae Aulenti (1927–2012), architect and designer known for her contributions to the design of museums such as the Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, as well as the restoration of Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
• Carlo Aymonino (1926–2010), architect. He received the Honorary Fellow award from the American Institute of Architects.
• Ernesto Basile (1857–1932), architect, teacher and designer. An exponent of modernism and Art Nouveau.
• Mario Bellini (born 1935), architect and designer. He won Compasso d'Oro the eight times, and the Gold Medal of Civic Merit of the city of Milan.
• Cini Boeri (1924–2020), architect and designer who won many awards and prizes.
• Stefano Boeri (born 1956), architect and editor, founder of the research group "Multiplicity", former editor-in-chief of the magazines "Abitare" and "Domus".
• Achille Castiglioni (1918–2002), architect and designer. He won the Compasso d'Oro nine times. (See also: Livio and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni).
• Giancarlo De Carlo (1919–2005), architect, member of CIAM and Team 10. Known for his works at the University of Urbino (1973–1979 and later)
• Ignazio Gardella (1905–1999), architect, designer, race car driver and aircraft.
• Graziano Gasparini (1924–2019), architect specialised in restoring Spanish Colonial architecture, while pursuing a parallel career as an architectural historian.
• Roberto Gottardi (1927–2017), architect who worked in Venezuela and Cuba.
• Vittorio Gregotti (1927–2020), architect, designer and writer.
• Franca Helg (1920–1989), architect, designer, and academic.
• Adalberto Libera (1903–1963), architect. One of the most representative architects of the Italian Modern movement.
• Pier Luigi Nervi (1891–1979), structural engineer and architect known for his innovative use of reinforced concrete, especially with numerous notable thin shell structures worldwide.
• Alberto Meda (born 1945), Compasso d'Oro winning engineer and designer.
• Alessandro Mendini (1931–2019), designer and architect. His work is represented in museums and private collections all over the world.
• Giovanni Michelucci (1891–1990), architect, urban planner and engraver. A key figure in the progress and advancement of contemporary Italian architecture during the 20th century.
• Carlo Mollino (1905–1973), architect, designer, race car and aircraft driver.
• Luigi Moretti (1907–1973), architect. One of the most important Italian architects of the 20th century.
• Giovanni Muzio (1893–1982), architect. He was the most influential member of the group of Italian architects associated with the Novecento Italiano.
• Marcello Piacentini (1881–1960), architect and urban theorist most closely associated with Italy's fascist government.
• Renzo Piano (born 1937), architect, known for his design for the Centre Georges Pompidou (1971–1977) in Paris awarded by Pritzker Prize.
• Giò Ponti (1891–1979), architect and designer associated with the development of modern architecture and modern industrial design in Italy.
• Paolo Portoghesi (1931–2023), architect and architectural historian; became known as the creator of the original and significant Casa Baldi (1959) on the Via Flaminia.
• Jorge Rigamonti (1948–2008), architect migrated in Venezuela who produced national and international award-winning designs, an active architecture professor for over 30 years.
• Ernesto Nathan Rogers (1909–1969), architect and theoretician, partner BBPR architecture studio; cousin of architect Richard Rogers.
• Richard Rogers (1933–2021), architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture.
• Aldo Rossi (1931–1997), architect and theoretician. His book The Architecture of the City (1966) is a classic of modern architectural theory.
• Giuseppe Samonà (1898–1983), architect and urban planner. One of the most important Italian architects of the 20th century.
• Antonio Sant'Elia (1888–1916), architect. Associated with the movement known as Futurism; known for his visionary drawings of the city of the future.
• Carlo Scarpa (1906–1978), architect. Among his works may be cited the Palazzo Foscari (1935–1956) and Castelvecchio Museum (1956–1964).
• Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007), architect and designer; internationally known as one of the initiators of the renewal of design and architecture.^[8]
• Roberto Stampa (1858– after 1911), Italian architect.
• Manfredo Tafuri (1935–1994), architect, art historian and theorist. Known for his critical essays for Oppositions magazine (1970).
• Giuseppe Terragni (1904–1943), architect associated with Rationalism and Gruppo 7. His Casa del Fascio (1932–6) is regarded as his finest work.
• Paolo Venini (1895–1959), one of the leading figures in the production of Murano glass and an important contributor to 20th century Italian design.
• Lella and Massimo Vignelli (1934–2016 and 1934–2014 respectively), architects and designers known for packaging, houseware, furniture, public signage, and showroom design.
• Marco Zanuso (1916–2001), leading modernist architect and designer.
• Bruno Zevi (1918–2000), architect, historian, professor, curator, author, and editor. Zevi was a vocal critic of "classicizing" modern architecture and postmodernism.

Etruscan civilization

• Mezentius, legendary Etruscan king who reigned at Caere and fought against Aeneas
• Lars Porsena (6th century BC), legendary Etruscan king, alleged to have besieged Rome in a vain attempt to reinstate Lucius Tarquinius Superbus on the throne
• Lars Tolumnius (died 428 BC), the most famous king of the wealthy Etruscan city-state of Veii

Ancient Rome

• Agrippa Menenius Lanatus (died 493 BC), consul of the Roman Republic in 503 BC, with Publius Postumius Tubertus. Victorious over the Sabines and was awarded a triumph which he celebrated on 4 April, 503 BC.

• Scipio Aemilianus (185 BC–129 BC), Roman general famed both for his exploits during the Third Punic War (149–146 BC) and for his subjugation of Spain (134–133 BC)^[25]
• Caligula (31 August 12–24 January 41 AD) was Roman emperor from 37 to 41 AD. Was widely considered to be one of Rome's most cruel and sadistic emperors ever to rule
• Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (c. 89 or 88 BC–late 13 or early 12 BC), Roman statesman, one of the triumvirs who ruled Rome after 43 BC
• Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (ca. 229 BC–160 BC), Roman general whose victory over the Macedonians at Pydna ended the Third Macedonian War.
• Publius Cornelius Scipio (c. 255 BC-211 BC), Roman general and statesman of the Roman Republic and the father of Scipio Africanus.
• Nero (15 December 37–9 June 68 AD) The last emperor of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and is believed to be responsible for the burning of Rome
• Mark Antony (83 BC–30 BC), Roman politician and general
• Romulus and Remus (c. mid to late 8th century BC), Romulus was the first king of the Roman Kingdom
• Marcus Atilius Regulus (fl. 3rd century BC), Roman general and statesman
• Augustus (63 BC–AD 14), first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. One of the great administrative geniuses of history^[26]
• Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC – AD 9), Roman general and politician. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribes led by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, whereupon he took his own life.
• Marcus Aurelius (121–180), Roman emperor, has symbolized for many generations in the West the Golden Age of the Roman Empire^[27]
• Lucius Junius Brutus (545 BC–509 BC), Roman consul, traditional founder of the Roman Republic
• Marcus Junius Brutus (85 BC–42 BC), Roman politician, leader of the conspirators who assassinated Julius Caesar (44 BC)
• Julius Caesar (100 BC–44 BC), Roman statesman and general, famous for the conquest of Gaul. A figure of genius and audacity equaled by few in history^[28]
• Marcus Furius Camillus (c. 446 BC–365 BC), Roman soldier and statesman
• Catiline (108 BC–62 BC), Roman politician
• Tiberius (16 November 42 BC–16 March 37 AD), second Roman emperor, succeeding Augustus
• Cato the Elder (234 BC–149 BC), Roman statesman, orator and the first Latin prose writer of importance^[29]
• Cato the Younger (95 BC–46 BC), Roman politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic
• Cicero (106 BC–43 BC), Roman statesman, scholar, writer and orator.
• Cincinnatus (519 BC–438 BC), Roman politician
• Appius Claudius Caecus (fl. 3rd century BC), outstanding statesman, legal expert, and author of early Rome^[30]
• Marcus Claudius Marcellus (c. 268 BC–208 BC), Roman general who captured Syracuse during the Second Punic War (218–201)^[31]
• Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236/235 BC–183 BC), general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War.One of the great military minds of all times^[32]
• Publius Clodius Pulcher (c. 93 BC–52 BC), disruptive politician, head of a band of political thugs, and bitter enemy of Cicero in late republican Rome
• Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (?–c. 280 BC), consul in 298 BC. He defeated the Etruscans at Volaterrae and afterwards fought against the Samnites
• Lucius Cornelius Sulla (c. 138 BC–78 BC), Roman general and statesman
• Manius Curius Dentatus (?–270 BC), Roman general. As consul led the Romans to victory over the Samnites and defeated Pyrrhus of Epirus near Beneventum (275 BC)
• Gaius Duilius (fl. 3rd century BC), Roman commander who won a major naval victory over the Carthaginians during the First Punic War (264–241 BC)
• Germanicus (15 BC–AD 19), Roman general who avenged the defeat sustained by Varus (AD 9), defeating Arminius at Idistaviso on the Weser (AD 16)
• Gaius Gracchus (154 BC–121 BC), Roman politician
• Marcus Licinius Crassus (c. 115 BC–53 BC), Roman general and politician
• Lucullus (c. 117 BC–57/56 BC), Roman general who fought Mithradates VI Eupator of Pontus from 74 to 66 BC^[33]
• Gaius Maecenas (70 BC–8 BC), Roman diplomat, counsellor to the Roman emperor Augustus
• Gaius Marius (157 BC–86 BC), Roman general and politician
• Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (c. 280 BC–203 BC), Roman politician and general, famous for having invented the guerrilla warfare (method of combat in 217 BC)
• Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (c. 229 BC–160 BC), Roman general whose victory over the Macedonians at Pydna ended the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC)^[34]
• Pontius Pilate (16 BC–AD 36), Roman politician, famous primarily as a crucial character in the New Testament account of Jesus
• Antoninus Pius (86–161), Roman emperor, mild-mannered and capable, he was the fourth of the five good emperors"^[35]
• Pompey (106 BC–48 BC), Roman military and political leader of the late Roman Republic
• Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (535 BC-509 BC), King of Rome famed for his resistance against the people trying to found the Roman Republic
• Trajan (53–117), Emperor who presided over the greatest expansion in Roman history. He was born in Italica, a colony of Italian settlers in Hispania, and his family was from Umbria
• Titus Quinctius Flamininus (c. 229 BC–174 BC), Roman general and statesman who established the Roman hegemony over Greece^[36]
• Quintus Sertorius (c. 126 BC–73 BC), one of the most able Roman generals, who displayed a particular genius for leading armies of irregulars^[37]
• Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63 BC–12 BC), Roman statesman and general; he was long honored by the Roman military as the inventor of the Harpax
• Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus (c. 10–69), prefect of the Roman Imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during the reign of Emperor Nero.
• Flavius Aetius (391–454), military commander and the most influential man in the Roman Empire for two decades (433–454). He was called as The Last Roman

Roman Catholic Church

• Pope Adrian I (c. 700–795), pope from 772 to 795; his pontificate was unequalled in length by that of any successor of Saint Peter until a thousand years later
• Pope Agapetus I (?–536), of noble birth, he was an archdeacon at the time of his election (13 May 535)^[38]
• Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105–1181), pope from 1159 to 1181. He is remembered for the long-standing dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I
• Ambrose (337 or 340–397), bishop of Milan; one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century; he was also the teacher of Saint Augustine
• Augustine of Canterbury (?–604), Benedictine monk and the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church
• Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 – c. 547), father of Western monasticism; the rule that he established became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe^[39]
• Pope Benedict V (?–966), pope, or antipope, from 22 May 964, to 23 June 964, when he was deposed
• Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235 – 1303), issued in 1302, the famous bull Unam sanctam (pushing papal supremacy to its historical extreme)
• Pope Celestine I (?–432), pope from 422 to 432
• Pope Celestine V (1215–1296), pope from 5 July to 13 December 1294, the first pontiff to abdicate. He founded the Celestine order^[40]
• Peter Damian (c. 1007 – 1072), cardinal and Doctor of the Church. He was an original leader and a forceful figure in the Gregorian Reform movement
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604), founder" of the medieval papacy, which exercised both secular and spiritual power;^[41] he is considered one of the great Latin Fathers of the Church
• Pope Gregory II (669–731), greatly encouraged the Christianizing of Germany by SS; the Donation of Sutri (728) is considered the constitutive act of the Papal States
• Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015/1028–1085), one of the great reforming popes; known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy
• John Gualbert (985 or 995–1073), Roman Catholic saint. The founder of the Vallumbrosan Order
• Pope Honorius I (?–638), pope from 625 to 638 whose posthumous condemnation as a heretic subsequently caused extensive controversy on the question of papal infallibility^[42]
• Pope Honorius III (?–1227), often considered one of the great administrators in papal history^[43]
• Pope Innocent III (1160–1216), during his reign, the papacy was at the height of its powers
• Pope John II (?–535), pope from 533 to 535. He was the first pontiff to change his original name, which he considered pagan, assuming the name of the martyred Saint John I (523–526)^[44]
• Pope John VIII (?–?), often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the 9th century
• Pope John XIX (?–1032), pope from 1024 to 1032
• Pope Julius II (1443–1513), pope from 1503 to 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the Fearsome Pope, he chose his papal name not in honour of Pope Julius I but in emulation of Julius Caesar.
• Pope Leo I (c. 400–461), pope from 440 to 461, master exponent of papal supremacy^[45]
• Pope Leo III (750–816), known for crowning Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor
• Pope Liberius (?–366), pope from 352 to 366
• Matilda of Tuscany (1046–1115), noblewoman. She was a strong supporter of the papacy during the Investiture Controversy
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800–867), pope from 858 to 867, master theorist of papal power, considered to have been the most forceful of the early medieval pontiffs^[46]
• Paulinus of Nola (353–431), bishop of Nola and one of the most important Christian Latin poets of his time. He is also the inventor of church bells
• Romuald (c. 950–1025–1027), Christian ascetic who founded the Camaldolese Benedictines (Hermits)
• Pope Sergius I (?–701), pope from 687 to 701, one of the most important 7th-century pontiffs^[47]
• Pope Stephen II (715–757), pope from 752 to 757. He severed ties with the Byzantine Empire and thus became the first temporal sovereign of the newly founded Papal States^[48]
• Pope Sylvester I (?–335), one of the most illustrious popes of his age; after his death, became a major figure of legend
• Pope Symmachus (?–514), pope from 498 to 514
• Rainerius Saccho, 13th century Inquisitor

Renaissance

• Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (1510–1537), the first duke of Florence (1532–37)^[49]
• Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589), Queen of France
• Cosimo de' Medici (1389–1464), founder of the Medici political dynasty
• Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519–1574), second duke of Florence (1537–74) and first grand duke of Tuscany (1569–74)^[50]
• Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1549–1609), grand duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609
• Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1541–1587), second grand duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587
• Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360–1429), restored the family fortune and made the Medici family the wealthiest in Europe
• Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492), leader of Florence during the Golden Age of the Renaissance; patron of arts and letters, the most brilliant of the Medici
• Marie de' Medici (1575–1642), Queen and Regent of France who was a harsh opponent of Protestantism in France
• Salvestro de' Medici (1331–1388), Gonfaloniere and Provost of the city of Florence
• Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) (1478–1534), pope from 1523 to 1534; it was Pope Clement who excommunicated Henry VIII of England
• Pope Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) (1475–1521), cardinal-deacon from the age of 13
• Pope Leo XI (Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici) (1535–1605), pope from 1–27 April 1605^[51]

• Cesare Borgia (1475/1476–1507), Spanish-Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. Powerful lord, and a leading figure in the politics of his era
• Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli (1281–1328). condottiero and duke of Lucca
• Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400–1475), condottiere, at various times in Venetian and Milanese service and from 1454 general in chief of the Republic of Venice for life
• Andrea Doria (1466–1560), condottiere, and admiral who was the foremost naval leader of his time^[52]
• Galeazzo da Sanseverino (1460 – 1525), condottiere and Grand Écuyer de France
• Erasmo of Narni (1370–1443, known as Gattamelata), served Florence, Venice and the pope before becoming dictator of Padua
• Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194–1250), King of Sicily and promoter of Sicilian culture and political power; expanded domain into much of Italy^[53]
• Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482), lord of Urbino from 1444 (as Duke from 1474) until his death. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful condottieri of his time
• Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (1498–1526), the most noted soldier of all the Medici
• Giovanni Giustiniani Longo (1418–1453), kinsman to the powerful house of Doria in Genoa and protostrator of the Byzantine Empire, who led the defense of Constantinople against the Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed II in 1453.
• Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417–1468), condottiero and nobleman. He was widely considered by his contemporaries as one of the most daring military leaders in Italy
• Niccolò Piccinino (1386–1444), soldier of fortune who played an important role in the 15th-century wars of the Visconti of Milan against Venice, Florence, and the pope
• Giovanni Dionigi Galeni (1519–1587), farmer, then Ottoman privateer and admiral, who later became beylerbey of the Regency of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet
• Francesco I Sforza (1401–1466), condottiere who played a crucial role in 15th-century Italian politics
• Muzio Sforza (1369–1424), soldier of fortune who played an important role in the wars of his period and whose son Francesco became duke of Milan
• Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (1440/1441–1518), aristocrat and condottiero who served as a military captain under Galeazzo, later became the grand Marshal of France
• Sebastiano Venier (c. 1496–1578), Doge of Venice from 1577 to 1578. He is best remembered in his role as the Venetian admiral at the Battle of Lepanto

Early Modern period to Unification

• Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (1562–1630), skilled soldier and shrewd politician. He was nicknamed Testa d'feu ("Head of Fire") for his rashness and military attitudes
• Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi (1738–1808), general in the service of the Austrian army
• Torquato Conti (1591–1636), military commander who served as a General-Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War
• Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), general in the service of the Austrian Holy Roman emperor
• Francesco Morosini (1619–1694), doge of Venice (1688–94), of a family distinguished in Venice for five centuries
• Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (1545–1592), revitalized Spanish rule in the southern provinces of the Netherlands (modern Belgium and Luxembourg)
• Achille Fontanelli (1755–1838), Minister of War and general of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy
• Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807), statesman and general, hailed as the father of Corsica. He wrote and promulgated the modern world's first democratic constitution in 1755^[54][55]
• Pietro Micca (1677–1706), the miner who at the sacrifice of his own life saved the citadel of Turin (1706) from French troops
• Francesco Morosini (1619–1694), doge of Venice (1688–94), of a family distinguished in Venice for five centuries
• Raimondo Montecuccoli (1609–1680), field marshal and military reformer. In the service of the Habsburgs, he took part in the Thirty Years' War
• Napoleon (1769–1821), Corsican military and political leader, founder and leader of the First French Empire, the Italian Republic and Kingdom
• Ottavio Piccolomini (1599–1656), general and diplomat in the service of the House of Habsburg during the Thirty Years' War
• Franziska Scanagatta (1776–1864), military officer who served the Austrian Empire.
• Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases (1569–1630), general and master of siege warfare in the service of Spain
• Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (1666–1732), King of Sicily (1713–1720) and of Sardinia (1720–1730), established the foundation for the future Italian national state

1861 to the rise of Fascism

• Pietro Badoglio (1871–1956), general and statesman during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini
• Italo Balbo (1896–1940), airman and fascist leader who played a decisive role in developing Benito Mussolini's air force^[56]
• Oreste Baratieri (1841–1901), general and governor of Italian Eritrea
• Cesare Battisti (1875–1916), politician
• Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour (1810–1861), politician, leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification
• Francesco Crispi (1819–1901), statesman who, after being exiled from Naples and Sardinia-Piedmont for revolutionary activities, eventually became premier of a united Italy^[57]
• Salvo D'Acquisto (1920–1943), member of the Italian Carabinieri, awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor in memory of his heroism
• Tommaso De Cristoforis, Lieutenant Colonel notable for his command during the Battle of Dogali and was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor
• Francesco de Pinedo (1890–1933), aviator officer who is best known for his long-range flying boat flights in the 1920s that demonstrated the feasibility of global air travel.
• Armando Diaz (1861–1928), general and a Marshal of Italy during the I World War
• Giulio Douhet (1869–1930), military, the first to envision the true potential of airpower and strategic bombardment
• Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora (1799–1855), general who is best remembered for founding the military unit known as the Bersaglieri
• Orestes Ferrara (1876-1972), attorney and journalist, who fought for Cuba's independence who founded one of the best newspapers of La Habana
• Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882), patriot and soldier of the Risorgimento; contributed to the achievement of Italian unification under the royal House of Savoy
• Maurizio Giglio (1920–1944), soldier, policeman and secret agent, recipient of the Gold Medal of Military Valor
• Giovanni Giolitti (1842–1928), statesman and five times prime minister under whose leadership Italy prospered
• Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937), intellectual and politician, a founder of the Italian Communist Party whose ideas greatly influenced Italian communism^[58]
• Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (1860–1952), Prime Minister of Italy from October 1917 to June 1919. Representing Italy in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference with his foreign minister Sidney Sonnino. Known as "Premier of Victory" for defeating the Central Powers along with the Entente in World War I
• Giacomo Matteotti (1885–1924), socialist politician. He strongly denounced the National Fascist Party. Two weeks after his speech, he was kidnapped and murdered by fascists
• Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872), propagandist and revolutionary; a champion of the movement for Italian unity known as the Risorgimento
• Benito Mussolini (1883–1945), prime minister (1922–43) and the first of 20th-century Europe's fascist dictators^[59]
• Coriolano Ponza di San Martino (1842–1926), general and politician. Senator of the Kingdom and Minister of War in the Pelloux II, Saracco and Zanardelli governments.
• Carlo Rosselli (1899–1937), political leader, journalist, and historian. He was committed to the anti-fascist struggle in Italy and in the Spanish Civil War
• Piero Torrigiani (1846–1920), mayor of Florence
• Enrico Toti (1882–1916), deportist, patriot and hero of World War I
• Umberto II di Savoia (1904–1983), was the last King of Italy
• Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820–1878), King of Sardinia–Piedmont who became the first king of a united Italy^[60]
• Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869–1947), King of Italy whose reign brought the end of the Italian monarchy^[61]

Italian Republic

• Giulio Andreotti (1919–2013), Christian Democratic politician who was several times prime minister of Italy in the period from 1972 to 1992^[62]
• Enrico Berlinguer (1922–1984), secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party from March 1972 until his death
• Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023), media tycoon who served three times as prime minister of Italy (1994; 2001–06; 2008–11)^[63]
• Umberto Bossi (born 1941), politician who was leader (born 1991) of the Lega Nord party^[64]
• Bettino Craxi (1934–2000), politician who became his nation's first Socialist prime minister (1983–87)^[65]
• Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954), statesman and politician, considered to be one of the Founding fathers of the European Union
• Enrico De Nicola (1877–1959), politician, the first provisional Head of State of the newborn republic of Italy from 1946 to 1948
• Antonio Di Pietro (born 1950), jurist and politician who uncovered a wide-ranging government corruption scandal
• Luigi Einaudi (1874–1961), economist and statesman, the first president (1948–55) of the Republic of Italy^[66]
• Mario Draghi (born 1947), politician, economist, banker, prime minister of Italy since 2021. He served as President of the European Central Bank (ECB) between 2011 and 2019
• Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999), leader served five times as premier of Italy
• Nilde Iotti (1920–1999), politician
• Aldo Moro (1916–1978), leader of the Christian Democratic Party, who served five times as premier of Italy. In 1978 he was kidnapped and subsequently murdered by left-wing terrorists^[67]
• Romano Prodi (born 1939), politician who was twice prime minister of Italy (1996–98; 2006–08) and who served as president of the European Commission (1999–2004)^[68]
• Antonio Segni (1891–1972), statesman, twice premier (1955–57, 1959–60), and fourth president (1962–64) of Italy
• Luigi Sturzo (1871–1959), priest, public official, and political organizer who founded a party that was a forerunner of the Italian Christian Democrat movement^[69]
• Palmiro Togliatti (1893–1964), politician who led the Italian Communist Party for nearly 40 years and made it the largest in Europe^[70]
• Altiero Spinelli (1907–1986), statesman, author of the so-called "Spinelli Plan", co-author of the Ventotene Manifesto, founder of the Crocodile Club, co-founder of the Union of European Federalists, hailed as one of the Fathers of European Union^[71]

Composers

Conductors

• Claudio Abbado (1933–2014), conductor. Principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (1979–88); director of the Vienna State Opera (1986–91), and the Berlin Philharmonic (1989–2001)
• Salvatore Accardo (born 1941), violinist and conductor, who is known for his interpretations of the works of Niccolò Paganini.
• Alfredo Antonini (1901–1983), leading symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television
• Enrico Bevignani (1841–1903), conductor, harpsichordist, composer, chief conductor at the Royal Opera House, La Fenice, Mariinsky Theatre and the Bolshoi where notably conducted the world premiere of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in 1879.
• Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924), pianist, conductor and composer who attained fame as a pianist of brilliance and intellectual power
• Guido Cantelli (1920–1956), conductor. Arturo Toscanini elected him his "spiritual heir" since the beginnings of his career
• Primo Casale (1904–1981), conductor, composer, and violinist. Promotor of the opera in Venezuela since 1948
• Riccardo Chailly (born 1953), conductor known for his devotion to contemporary music, and for his attempts to modernize approaches to the traditional symphonic repertory
• Riccardo Drigo (1846–1930), conductor, composer of ballet music and Italian opera, and a pianist.
• Victor de Sabata (1892–1967), conductor and composer. He is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished operatic conductors of the 20th century
• Piero Gamba (1936–2022), also known as Pierino Gamba, orchestral conductor and pianist. Gamba came to attention as a child prodigy.
• Daniele Gatti (born 1961), conductor. He is considered the foremost conductor of his generation"^[93]
• Franco Ferrara (1911–1985), conductor and teacher ofvarious prominent conductors, including Roberto Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Andrew Davis and Riccardo Muti
• Gianandrea Gavazzeni (1909–1996), conductor of opera
• Carlo Maria Giulini (1914–2005), conductor esteemed for his skills in directing both grand opera and symphony orchestras
• Vittorio Gui (1885–1975), conductor, composer, musicologist and critic
• Fabio Luisi (born 1959), conductor of the Vienna Symphony and the Staatskapelle Dresden
• Gianandrea Noseda (born 1964), conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C.
• Mantovani (1905–1980), known mononymously as Mantovani, conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature.
• Riccardo Muti (born 1941), conductor of both opera and the symphonic repertory. He became one of the most respected and charismatic conductors of his generation^[94]
• Giorgio Polacco (1875–1960), conductor of the Metropolitan Opera from 1915 to 1917 and the Chicago Civic Opera from 1921 to 1930
• Claudio Scimone (1934–2018), conductor. He founded I Solisti Veneti in 1959, specializing in 18th-century and 20th-century Italian music
• Tullio Serafin (1878–1968), conductor. An outstanding conductor of Italian opera, he did much to foster the revival of interest in Bellini and Donizetti
• Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946–2001), performed with an intensity and daring that made him one of Europe's most controversial orchestra leaders
• Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957), conductor, considered one of the great virtuoso conductors of the first half of the 20th century^[95]
• Carlo Zecchi (1903–1984), conductor, pianist and music teacher

Singers

• Adamo (born 1943) – singer
• Alberto Urso (born 1997) – outstanding high sing tenor, singer
• Alexia (born 1967) – singer/songwriter
• Alessandra Amoroso (born 1986) – singer/songwriter
• Annalisa (born 1985) – singer/songwriter
• Renzo Arbore (born 1937) – singer, musician TV presenter
• Arisa (born 1982) – singer/songwriter
• Bianca Atzei (born 1987) – singer/songwriter
• Serena Autieri (born 1976) – singer/songwriter
• Malika Ayane (born 1984) – singer/songwriter
• Baby K (born 1983) – singer/songwriter
• Umberto Balsamo (born 1943) – singer
• Annalisa (born 1985) – singer/songwriter
• Carla Boni (1925–2009) – singer
• Carla Bruni (born 1967) – singer/songwriter
• Bassi Maestro (born 1973) – rapper
• Claudio Baglioni (born 1951) – singer/songwriter
• Franco Battiato (1945–2021) – singer/songwriter, composer
• Lucio Battisti (1943–1998) – singer/songwriter
• Andrea Bocelli (born 1958) – gospel singer/tenor
• Fred Bongusto (1935–2019) – singer/songwriter
• Alessandra Belloni (born 1954) – singer, drummer, dancer, teacher
• Primo Brown (1976–2016) – rapper
• Edoardo Bennato (born 1946) – singer/songwriter
• Eugenio Bennato (born 1948) – singer/songwriter
• Loredana Bertè (born 1950) – performer
• Orietta Berti (born 1943) – singer
• Carla Bissi (Alice) (1954) – singer/songwriter
• Andrea Bocelli (born 1958), opera tenor noted for his unique blend of opera and pop music^[96]
• Angelo Branduardi (born 1950) – singer/songwriter
• Michele Bravi (born 1994) – singer/songwriter
• Sergio Bruni (1921–2003), singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was often called The Voice of Naples
• Fred Buscaglione (1921–1960) – singer/songwriter
• Clementino (born 1982) – rapper
• Coez (born 1983) – singer/rapper
• Andrea Caccese (born 1988) − singer/songwriter
• Renato Carosone (1920–2001) – singer/songwriter
• Caterina Caselli (born 1946) – singer
• Raffaella Carrà (1943–2021) – singer/songwriter
• Albano Carrisi (born 1943) – singer/songwriter
• Marco Carta (born 1985) – singer/songwriter
• Adriano Celentano (born 1938) – singer/songwriter
• Gigliola Cinquetti (born 1947) – singer/songwriter
• Chiara (born 1986) – singer/songwriter
• Riccardo Cocciante (born 1946) – singer/songwriter
• Lodovica Comello (born 1990) – singer/songwriter
• Paolo Conte (born 1937) – singer/songwriter
• Tony Croatto (1940–2005) – singer/songwriter
• Toto Cutugno (1943–2023) – singer/songwriter
• Lorella Cuccarini (born 1965) – singer/songwriter
• Betty Curtis (1936–2006) – singer
• Lucio Dalla (1943–2012) – singer/songwriter
• Pino Daniele (1955–2015) – singer/songwriter
• Gigi D'Alessio (born 1967) – singer/songwriter
• Dargen D'Amico (born 1980) – rapper/singer
• Pino D'Angiò (born 1952) – singer
• Cristina D'Avena (born 1964) – singer
• Fabrizio De André (1940–1999) – singer/songwriter
• Francesco De Gregori (born 1951) – singer/songwriter
• Roberto Demo (born 1965) – singer/songwriter
• Manuel De Peppe (born 1970) – singer/songwriter
• Teresa De Sio (born 1955) – singer/songwriter
• Nicola Di Bari (born 1940) – singer/songwriter
• Franco De Vita (born 1954) – singer/songwriter
• Peppino di Capri (born 1939) – singer/songwriter
• Pino Donaggio (born 1941) – singer
• Aldo Donati (1947–2014) – singer/songwriter
• Johnny Dorelli (born 1937) – singer
• Egreen (born 1984) – rapper
• Elisa (born 1977) – singer/songwriter
• El Presidente (born 1972) – rapper
• Bruno Filippini (born 1945) – singer
• Rosario Fiorello (born 1960) – singer/songwriter
• Enzo Jannacci (1935–2013) – singer/songwriter
• Gorni Kramer (1913–1995)– singer/songwriter
• Emis Killa (born 1989) – rapper
• En?gma (born 1988) – rapper
• Ensi (born 1985) – rapper
• Fabri Fibra (born 1976) – rapper
• Fedez (born 1989) – rapper
• Fred De Palma (born 1989) – rapper
• Sergio Endrigo (1933–2005) – singer/songwriter
• Gabriella Ferri (1942–2004) – singer/songwriter
• Giusy Ferreri (born 1979) – singer/songwriter
• Tiziano Ferro (born 1980) – singer/songwriter
• Eugenio Finardi (born 1952) – singer/songwriter
• Fiordaliso(born 1956) – singer
• Riccardo Fogli (born 1947) – singer/songwriter
• Jimmy Fontana (1934–2013) – singer/songwriter
• Ivano Fossati (born 1951) – singer/songwriter
• Rosanna Fratello (born in 1951) – singer and actress
• Gemitaiz (born 1988) – rapper
• Gué Pequeno (born 1980) – rapper
• Giorgio Gaber (1939–2003) – singer/songwriter
• Francesco Gabbani (born 1982) – singer/songwriter
• Rino Gaetano (1950–1981) – singer/songwriter
• Giorgia (born 1971) – singer/songwriter
• Enrico Gentile (born 1921)– singer. In 1940 he founded a vocal quartet named Quartetto Cetra
• Wilma Goich(born 1945) – singer
• Irene Grandi (born 1969) – singer/songwriter
• Francesco Guccini (born 1940) – singer/songwriter
• J-Ax (born 1972) – rapper
• Jovanotti (born 1966) – singer/songwriter and rapper
• Achille Lauro (born 1990) – rapper/singer
• Rudy La Scala (born 1954) – singer/songwriter and record producer
• Bruno Lauzi (1937–2006) – singer/songwriter
• Fausto Leali (born 1944) – singer/songwriter
• Luciano Ligabue (born 1960) – singer/songwriter
• MadMan (born 1988) – rapper
• Mahmood (born 1992) – singer/songwriter
• Marracash (born 1979) – rapper
• Cristiano Malgioglio (born 1945) – singer/songwriter
• Pablo Manavello (1950–2016) – singer/songwriter
• Fiorella Mannoia (born 1954) – performer
• Emma Marrone (born 1984) – singer/songwriter
• Mia Martini (1947–1995) – singer/performer
• Laura Macri (born 1990) – opera singer
• Marco Masini (born 1964) – singer-songwriter, pianist
• Paolo Meneguzzi (born 1976) – singer/songwriter
• Marco Mengoni (born 1988) – singer/songwriter
• Francesca Michielin (born 1995) – singer/songwriter
• Milva (1939–2021) – performer
• Mina (born 1940) – performer
• Moreno (born 1989) – rapper/singer
• Domenico Modugno (1928–1994) – singer/songwriter
• Yves Montand (1921–1991) – singer/songwriter
• Gianni Morandi (born 1944) – performer
• Fabrizio Moro (born 1975) – singer/songwriter
• Franco Mussida (Premiata Forneria Marconi) (born 1947) – singer/songwriter
• Gianna Nannini (born 1954) – singer/songwriter
• Neffa (born 1967) – rapper/singer/songwriter
• Nek (born 1972) – singer/songwriter
• Nesli (born 1980) – rapper
• Noemi (born 1982) – singer/songwriter
• Nitro (born 1993) – rapper
• Gino Paoli (born 1934) – singer/songwriter
• Laura Pausini (born 1974) – singer/songwriter
• Rita Pavone (born 1946) – singer
• Emilio Pericoli (1928–2013) – singer
• Nilla Pizzi (1919–2011) – singer
• Povia (born 1972) – singer/songwriter
• Patty Pravo (born 1948) – singer
• Pupo(born1955), singer, lyricist, television presenter, writer and voice actor
• Alberto Rabagliati (1906–1974) – singer
• Rancore (born 1989) – rapper
• Rocco Hunt (born 1994) – rapper/singer
• Katyna Ranieri (1925–2018) – singer
• Massimo Ranieri (born 1951) – singer
• Eros Ramazzotti (born 1963) – singer/songwriter
• Mino Reitano (1944–2009) – singer/songwriter
• Tony Renis (born 1938) – singer
• Donatella Rettore (born 1953) – singer/songwriter
• Stefano Righi (born 1969) – singer/songwriter
• Vasco Rossi (born 1952) – singer/songwriter
• Fabio Rovazzi (born 1994) – rapper/singer
• Enrico Ruggeri (born 1957) – singer/songwriter
• Antonella Ruggiero (born 1952) – performer
• Giuni Russo (1951–2004) – singer/songwriter
• Salmo (born 1984) – rapper
• Shade (born 1987) – rapper
• Valerio Scanu (born 1990) – singer/songwriter
• Bobby Solo (born 1945) – singer/songwriter
• Demetrio Stratos (Area) (1945–1973) – singer/songwriter
• Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme) (1945) – singer/songwriter
• Luigi Tenco (1938–1967) – singer/songwriter
• Little Tony (1941–2013) – singer/songwriter
• Vacca (born 1979) – rapper
• Ornella Vanoni (born 1934) – performer
• Roberto Vecchioni (born 1943) – singer/songwriter
• Antonello Venditti (born 1949) – singer/songwriter
• Gioconda Vessichelli (21st-century) – opera singer and actress^[97]
• Edoardo Vianello (born 1938) – singer/songwriter
• Claudio Villa (1926–1987) – singer
• Yordano (born 1951) – singer/songwriter
• Iva Zanicchi(born 1940) – singer
• Renato Zero (born 1950) – singer/songwriter
• Zucchero (born 1955) – singer/songwriter

Ancient Rome

• Amulius (1st century AD), Roman painter. One of the principal painters of the Domus Aurea
• Furius Dionysius Philocalus (4th century AD), Roman chronograph and painter
• Pacuvius (220–130 BC), Roman writer and painter
• Studius (1st century BC and 1st century AD), Roman painter of the Augustan period

Middle Ages

• Altichiero (c. 1330 – c. 1390), painter who was the effective founder of the Veronese school and perhaps the most significant northern Italian artist of the 14th century^[104]
• Bonaventura Berlinghieri (fl. 1235–1244), painter of the Gothic period. His most celebrated work is St. Francis of Assisi (1235); one of the earliest icons of the Saint
• Pietro Cavallini (c. 1250 – c. 1330), painter and mosaicist. His surviving works are frescoes in Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and in Santa Maria Donna Regina Vecchia
• Cimabue (before 1251–1302), painter and mosaicist. Among his works may be cited the Sta. Trinità Madonna (c. 1290) and the Madonna Enthroned with St. Francis (c. 1290 – 95)
• Coppo di Marcovaldo (fl. 1260–1276), painter, one of the earliest about whom there is a body of documented knowledge. His one signed work is the Madonna del Bordone (1261)
• Bernardo Daddi (c. 1280 – 1348), painter, the outstanding painter in Florence in the period after the death of Giotto (who was possibly his teacher)^[105]
• Duccio (fl. 1278–1319), painter. Founder of the Sienese school. His most celebrated work is a large altar called the Maestà (1308–1311) in the Siena cathedral
• Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1300 – 1366), painter and architect, known for the fresco series Life of the Virgin (completed in 1338)
• Giottino (fl. 1324–1369), painter of the school of Giotto. He has been credited with frescoes in Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, and in the Lower Church of St. Francis in Assisi
• Giotto di Bondone (1266/7–1337), painter, the first of the great Italian masters.^[106] His work includes cycles of frescoes in Assisi, the Arena Chapel in Padua and the Church of Santa Croce
• Guido of Siena (13th century), painter. One of the innovators in Italian art after the dominance of the Byzantine style
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti (c. 1290 – 1348), painter of the Sienese school. Known for the cycle of frescoes (1337–39) in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
• Pietro Lorenzetti (c. 1280 – 1348), painter of the Sienese school. His Nativity of the Virgin (c. 1335 – 1342), is notable for his handling of perspective
• Simone Martini (c. 1284 – 1344), painter, important exponent of Gothic art. Among his works may be cited the Maestà fresco (1315) and Annunciation and two Saints (1333)
• Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356), painter from Siena. One of the artists who worked at the Orvieto Cathedral, for which he finished the Madonna dei Raccomandati (c. 1320)
• Orcagna (c. 1308 – 1368), painter, sculptor and architect. He was one of the leading artists of his day^[107]
• Paolo Veneziano (fl. 1333–1358), painter and possibly illuminator. He was by far the most prolific and influential Venetian painter of the early 14th century^[108]
• Giunta Pisano (fl. 1236–1255),^[109] painter. Three large Crucifixions are ascribed to the same master, whose signature can be traced on them
• Piero da Rimini, early 14th century, painter.
• Jacopo Torriti (fl. 1270–1300), painter and mosaicist. His work is now known only from two highly prominent signed apse mosaics in the basilicas of St. John Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore

Renaissance and Mannerism

• Mariotto Albertinelli (1474–1515), painter, known for The Visitation (1503) and The Annunciation (1510)
• Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), painter. His varied output included altarpieces, portraits, and tapestry designs. The Pearl Fishing (1570–1572) is generally considered his masterpiece
• Andrea del Castagno (c. 1421 – 1457), painter in the early Florentine Renaissance. Known for a series of monumental frescoes depicting the Last Supper
• Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530), painter. His most striking among other well-known works is the series of frescoes on the life of St. John the Baptist in the Chiostro dello Scalzo (c. 1515 – 1526)
• Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435 – 1488), sculptor and painter. Among his principal paintings are Baptism of Christ (1472–1475) and several versions of the Madonna and Child
• Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1535 – 1625), painter, mainly of portraits, the first woman artist to win international renown^[110]
• Antonello da Messina (c. 1430 – 1479), Sicilian painter. Major works were altarpieces and portraits
• Antonio da Correggio (1489–1534), painter, known for the frescoes in the domes of San Giovanni Evangelista and the Cathedral of Parma, where he worked from 1520 to 1530
• Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593), painter, famous for his allegorical or symbolical compositions in which he arranged objects such as fruits and vegetables into the form of the human face
• Alesso Baldovinetti (1425–1499), painter. He contributed importantly to the fledgling art of landscape painting^[111]
• Jacopo de' Barbari (c. 1440–before 1516), painter and printmaker. His few surviving paintings (about twelve) include the first known example of trompe-l'œil since antiquity
• Federico Barocci (c. 1526 – 1612), leading painter of the central Italian school in the last decades of the 16th century and an important precursor of the Baroque style
• Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 1592), painter of the Venetian school, known for his religious paintings, lush landscapes, and scenes of everyday life
• Domenico di Pace Beccafumi (1486–1551), painter, sculptor, draughtsman, printmaker and illuminator. He was one of the protagonists of Tuscan Mannerism^[112]
• Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 1507), painter, member of the founding family of the Venetian school of Renaissance painting, known for his portraiture and his scenes of Venice
• Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430 – 1516), painter. Among his works may be cited St. Francis in Ecstasy (c. 1480) and Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan (1501)
• Jacopo Bellini (c. 1400 – c. 1470), painter who introduced the principles of Florentine early Renaissance art into Venice^[113]
• Ambrogio Bergognone (c. 1470 – 1523–1524), painter. His most important works are the frescoes in the Certosa di Pavia
• Boccaccio Boccaccino (c. 1467 – c. 1525), painter. His most impressive work is the fresco cycle of the Life of the Virgin along the nave in the cathedral at Cremona
• Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio (1466/1467–1516), painter. He was a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, whose style he adhered to faithfully
• Paris Bordone (1500–1571), painter of religious, mythological, and anecdotal subjects, known for his striking sexualized paintings of women
• Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 – 1510), painter of the Florentine school. The Primavera (c. 1482) and The Birth of Venus (c. 1486) rank now among the most familiar masterpieces of Florentine art
• Francesco Botticini (1446–1498), painter profoundly influenced by Castagno; worked under and was formed by Cosimo Rosselli and Verrocchio
• Bramantino (c. 1456 – c. 1530), painter and architect, a follower of Bramante, from whom he takes his nickname
• Bronzino (1503–1572), painter. He is noted chiefly for his stylized portraits. Of his religious works, Deposition of Christ (1540–1545) is the most famous
• Luca Cambiasi (1527–1585), painter and draughtsman. He was the outstanding Genoese painter of the 16th century
• Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1460 – 1525–1526), painter active in Venice, known for the cycle depicting the life of Saint Ursula and the Saint George series
• Cennino Cennini (c. 1370 – c. 1440), painter, known for writing Il libro dell'arte (1437), source on the methods, techniques, and attitudes of medieval artists^[114]
• Cigoli (1559–1613), painter, draughtsman, architect and scenographer. He was one of the most influential artists in 17th-century Florence^[115]
• Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517), painter of the Venetian school whose style was marked by its use of landscape and by airy, luminous colour
• Niccolò Antonio Colantonio (fl. 1440–1470), painter, based in Naples, where he painted religious paintings in a style marked by Flemish influence
• Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477), painter of the Ferrarese school, best known works are the frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia at Ferrara (probably commissioned in 1469)
• Lorenzo Costa (1460–1535), painter of the Ferrarese and Bolognese schools, known for his painting the Madonna and Child with the Bentivoglio family (1483)
• Carlo Crivelli (c. 1435 – c. 1495), painter. All his works were of religious subjects, done in an elaborate, old-fashioned style reminiscent of the linearism of Andrea Mantegna
• Daniele da Volterra (c. 1509 – 1566), painter and sculptor, noted for his finely drawn, highly idealized figures done in the style of Michelangelo
• Ercole de' Roberti (c. 1451 – 1496), painter. His dynamic figurative compositions are marked by an exceptional intensity of feeling
• Francesco de' Rossi (1510–1563), painter and designer, one of the leading Mannerist fresco painters of the Florentine-Roman school^[116]
• Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509 or 1512–1571), painter and decorator. He is credited with introducing landscape painting in France
• Dosso Dossi (c. 1490 – 1542), painter and leader of the Ferrarese school in the 16th century^[117]
• Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1471 – 1546), painter and sculptor, one of the leading representatives of the Lombard school
• Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540), painter. His masterpiece is generally considered to be the Deposition or Descent from the Cross altarpiece in the Pinacoteca Comunale di Volterra
• Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), painter. She was one of the first women painters in European history to have enjoyed professional success^[118]
• Prospero Fontana (1512–1597), painter, father of Lavinia Fontana. One of the leading painters in Bologna
• Vincenzo Foppa (c. 1430 – c. 1515), painter, leading figure in 15th-century Lombard art^[119]
• Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – 1455), painter. His best-known works are frescoes at the monastery of San Marco, Florence, and in the chapel of Pope Nicholas V in the Vatican
• Fra Bartolomeo (1472–1517), painter, a leading figure of the High Renaissance. Noted for his austere religious works
• Franciabigio (1482–1525), painter, known for his portraits and religious paintings
• Agnolo Gaddi (c. 1350 – 1396), painter. He was an influential and prolific artist who was the last major Florentine painter stylistically descended from Giotto^[120]
• Fede Galizia (1578–1630), painter, one of the earliest still life painters in Italy, who was also known for miniature portraits, landscapes, and religious subjects
• Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370 – 1427), painter, one of the outstanding exponents of the elegant international Gothic style^[121]
• Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494), painter. His most famous achievement is his fresco cycle of the life of Mary and St. John the Baptist for the choir of Santa Maria Novella (1485–1490)
• Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (1483–1561), painter. He was the son of Domenico Ghirlandaio, and was trained in his father's workshop
• Giorgione (c. 1477/8–1510), painter of the Venetian school. His The Tempest (c. 1508), a milestone in Renaissance landscape painting
• Giovanni da Udine (1487–1564), painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael and one of his assistants in painting the frescoes of the Vatican
• Giovanni di Paolo (c. 1403 – 1482), painter. One of the most attractive and idiosyncratic painters of the Sienese School
• Stefano di Giovanni (c. 1400 – 1450), painter of the Sienese school, is noted for the gentle piety of his art
• Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1421 – 1497), painter. He is famous for his numerous frescos, such as The Journey of the Magi to Bethlehem (1459–1461) in the Medici Palace, Florence
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer and scientist. The supreme example of Renaissance genius. Author of Mona Lisa (c. 1503 – 1506)
• Filippino Lippi (c. 1457 – 1504), painter. His most popular painting is the Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard altarpiece (1480)
• Filippo Lippi (c. 1406 – 1469), painter. His finest fresco cycle is in Prato cathedral and depicts the lives of St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist
• Gian Paolo Lomazzo (1538–1592), painter. His first work, Trattato dell'arte della pittura, scoltura et architettura (1584) is in part a guide to contemporary concepts of decorum
• Lorenzo di Credi (1459–1537), painter and sculptor. Examples of his art are the Madonna with Child and Two Saints and Adoration
• Lorenzo Monaco (c. 1370 – c. 1425), painter, one of the leading artists in Florence at the beginning of the 15th century^[122]
• Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556), painter known for his perceptive portraits and mystical paintings of religious subjects
• Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/1482–1532), painter, known for his mythological and religious frescoes
• Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 1506), painter. His most important works were nine tempera pictures of Triumph of Caesar (c. 1486) and his decoration of the ceiling of the Camera degli Sposi
• Masaccio (1401–1428), painter. His most famous works are the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel and in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, in Florence
• Masolino da Panicale (c. 1383 – c. 1447), painter of the Florentine school. He collaborated with Masaccio, in a cycle of frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, in Florence
• Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 1494), painter of the Umbrian school. One of the great fresco artists of the 15th century
• Michelangelo (1475–1564), sculptor, painter, architect and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art.^[123] Author of The Creation of Adam (c. 1511)
• Moretto da Brescia (c. 1498 – 1554), painter. Together with Romanino and Girolamo Savoldo, he was one of the most distinguished painters of Brescia of the 16th century^[124]
• Giovanni Battista Moroni (c. 1520/1524–1578), painter. He was known for his sober and dignified portraits
• Palma Giovane (1548/1550–1628), painter. The leading Venetian painter and draftsman of the late 16th and early 17th centuries
• Palma Vecchio (c. 1480 – 1528), painter of the High Renaissance, noted for the craftsmanship of his religious and mythological works
• Parmigianino (1503–1540), painter, one of the first artists to develop the elegant and sophisticated version of Mannerist style
• Perino del Vaga (1501–1547), painter. A pupil and assistant of Raphael Sanzio in Rome, he carried out decorations in the Logge of the Vatican from Raphael's designs
• Francesco Pesellino (1422–1457), painter of the Florentine school who excelled in the execution of small-scale paintings
• Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 – 1492), painter and mathematician. His most famous cycle, The History of the True Cross (1452–1466), depicts scenes from the Golden Legend
• Piero di Cosimo (1462–1521), painter noted for his eccentric character and his fanciful mythological paintings^[125]
• Pietro Perugino (1446–1524), painter. One of his most famous masterpieces is The Delivery of the Keys (1481–1482), in the Sistine Chapel
• Pinturicchio (1454–1513), painter, known for his highly decorative frescoes. His most elaborate project was the decoration of the Cathedral of Siena
• Pisanello (c. 1395 – 1455), medalist and painter. He is regarded as the foremost exponent of the International Gothic style in Italian painting^[126]
• Polidoro da Caravaggio (c. 1499 – 1543), painter. One of the most original and innovative artists of the mid-16th century^[127]
• Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429/1433–1498), painter, sculptor, goldsmith, and engraver, was a master of anatomical rendering and excelled in action subjects, notably mythologies
• Pontormo (1494–1557), painter. He is thought to have painted Vertumnus and Pomona (1520–1521), which shows qualities characteristic of mannerism
• Il Pordenone (c. 1484 – 1539), painter chiefly known for his frescoes of religious subjects
• Francesco Primaticcio (1504–1570), painter, architect, sculptor, and leader of the first school of Fontainebleau^[128]
• Francesco Raibolini (c. 1450 – 1517), painter, goldsmith and medallist. His major surviving paintings are altarpieces, mostly images of the Virgin and saints
• Raphael (1483–1520), painter and architect, expressed the ideals of the High Renaissance, known for his Madonnas
• Giulio Romano (c. 1499 – 1546), painter and architect. Well-known oils include The Stoning of St. Stephen (Church of Santo Stefano, Genoa) and Adoration of the Magi (Louvre)
• Cosimo Rosselli (1439–1507), painter. Of his many works in Florence the most famous is The Miracle-working Chalice in Sant' Ambrogio, a work that includes many contemporary portraits^[129]
• Andrea Schiavone (c. 1510/15–1563), painter and etcher. His most characteristic works were fairly small religious or mythological pictures for private patrons
• Sebastiano del Piombo (c. 1485 – 1547), painter of the Venetian School, known for his portraits, including his portrayal of Pope Clement VII (1526)
• Luca Signorelli (c. 1445 – 1523), painter, known for his nudes and for his novel compositional devices. His masterpiece is the fresco cycle in Orvieto Cathedral
• Il Sodoma (1477–1549), painter, a master of the human figure and leading pupil of Leonardo da Vinci
• Francesco Squarcione (c. 1395 – after 1468), painter who founded the Paduan school and is known for being the teacher of Andrea Mantegna and other noteworthy painters^[130]
• Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1362 – 1422), painter. He was the leading painter in Siena in the first two decades of the 15th century and also worked in and for other cities^[131]
• Antonio Tempesta (1555–1630), painter and engraver from Florence who specialised in pastoral scenes
• Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527–1596), painter, sculptor, and architect who spread the style of Italian Mannerist painting in Spain during the late 16th century^[132]
• Tintoretto (1518–1594), painter of the Venetian school. One of the most important artists of the late Renaissance. His works include St. George and the Dragon (1555)
• Titian (c. 1488/1490–1576), painter of the Venetian school, noted for his religious and mythological works, such as Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1523), and his portraits
• Cosimo Tura (c. 1430 – 1495), painter who was the founder and the first significant figure of the 15th-century school of Ferrara^[133]
• Paolo Uccello (1397–1475), painter. His three panels depicting The Battle of San Romano (1438), combine the decorative late Gothic style with the new heroic style of the early Renaissance
• Bartolomeo Veneto (fl. 1502–1546), painter who worked in Northern Italy in an area bounded by Venice and Milan
• Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – 1461), painter. In Florence he created his most celebrated work, the St. Lucy Altarpiece (c. 1445 – 1447)
• Paolo Veronese (1528–1588), painter of the Venetian school, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana (1563) and The Feast in the House of Levi (1573)
• Alvise Vivarini (1442/1453–1503–1505), painter in the late Gothic style whose father, Antonio, was the founder of the influential Vivarini family of Venetian artists
• Bartolomeo Vivarini (c. 1432 – c. 1499), painter and member of the influential Vivarini family of Venetian artists
• Jacopo Zabolino (active 1461–1494) painter of frescoes of a mainly religious theme
• Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541–1609), painter and architect. He was the author of L'idea de' Pittori, Scultori, ed Architetti (1607)
• Taddeo Zuccari (1529–1566), painter. One of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school

Baroque and Rococo

• Francesco Albani (1578–1660), painter, known for paintings of mythological and poetic subjects
• Giacomo Alberelli (1600–1650), painter, pupil of Jacopo Palma the Younger
• Cristofano Allori (1577–1621), painter. He became one of the foremost Florentine artists of the early Baroque period, also winning renown as a courtier, poet, musician and lover^[134]
• Jacopo Amigoni (1682–1752), painter and etcher. His oeuvre includes decorative frescoes for churches and palaces, history and mythological paintings and a few etchings
• Leonardo dell'Arca (active c. 1600), engraver. His work is held permanently at the Victoria and Albert Museum.^[135]
• Marcello Bacciarelli (1731–1818), painter working at the royal court in Warsaw, who captured seminal moments in Polish history on canvas
• Sisto Badalocchio (1585 – c. 1647), painter and engraver. His most important work are the frescoes in the cupola and pendentives of St. John the Baptist (Reggio Emilia)^[136]
• Pompeo Batoni (1708–1787), painter
• Bernardo Bellotto (1720–1780), painter of vedute ("view paintings")
• Guido Cagnacci (1601–1663), painter. Particularly noteworthy are his altarpieces of the Virgin and Child with Three Carmelite Saints (c. 1631) and Christ with Saints Joseph and Eligius (1635)
• Canaletto (1697–1768), painter and etcher, noted particularly for his highly detailed paintings of cities, esp Venice, which are marked by strong contrasts of light and shade
• Battistello Caracciolo (1578–1635), painter. Caravaggesque painter and the founder of Neapolitan Caravaggism^[137]
• Caravaggio (1571–1610), painter of the baroque whose influential works, such as The Entombment of Christ (1602–1603), are marked by intense realism and revolutionary use of light
• Annibale Carracci (1560–1609), painter. Well known among his numerous works are The Beaneater (1580–1590), The Choice of Hercules (1596) and Domine quo vadis? (c. 1603)
• Ludovico Carracci (1555–1619), painter, draughtsman and etcher born in Bologna
• Rosalba Carriera (1675–1757), portrait painter and miniaturist, Rococo style, known for her work in pastels^[138]
• Giuseppe Crespi (1665–1747), painter of the Bolognese school, known for the imposing paintings of the Seven Sacraments (1712)
• Carlo Dolci (1616–1686), Florentine painter, known for his paintings of the heads and half-figures of Jesus and the Mater Dolorosa
• Domenichino (1581–1641), painter of the baroque eclectic school who is noted for his religious and mythological works, including several frescoes of Saint Cecilia
• Domenico Fetti (c. 1589 – 1623), painter whose best-known works are small representations of biblical parables
• Filippo Gagliardi (1606-1659), painter active mainly in Rome. helped in the renovation of San Martino ai Monti (1647–54). He was a member of the Accademia di San Luca from at least 1638 and became principe in 1656–58. He was also a member of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi del Pantheon.
• Giovanni Battista Gaulli (1639–1709), painter. He was a celebrated artist of the Roman High Baroque. Worship of the Holy Name of Jesus (1674–1679) is his most noted work
• Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653), painter. Among her works may be cited Susanna and the Elders (1610) and Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614–1620)
• Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639), painter. The Annunciation (1623), painted in Genoa and now in the Galleria Sabauda of Turin, is considered by several authorities his masterpiece
• Luca Giordano (1634–1705), painter, the most important Italian decorative artist of the second half of the 17th century
• Francesco Guardi (1712–1793), painter, a follower of Canaletto. His many charming landscapes are in the galleries of London, Paris, Venice and Boston
• Guercino (1591–1666), painter. Extremely skillful, prolific, and quick to finish his work, he was known for his frescoes, altarpieces, oils, and drawings
• Giovanni Lanfranco (1582–1647), painter, one of the foremost artists of the High Baroque. His masterpiece is the Assumption of the Virgin in the dome of Sant'Andrea della Valle (1625–1627)
• Pietro Longhi (1702–1785), painter, known for his small pictures depicting the life of upper-middle-class Venetians of his day
• Alessandro Magnasco (1667–1749), painter, known for his scenes of disembodied, flame-like figures in stormy landscapes or cavernous interiors
• Bartolomeo Manfredi (1582–1622), painter, active mainly in Rome, where he was one of the most important of Caravaggio's followers
• Carlo Maratta (1625–1713), painter and engraver of the Roman school; one of the last great masters of Baroque classicism
• Pietro Novelli (1603–1647), painter. Probably the most distinguished Sicilian painter of the 17th century^[139]
• Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691–1765), the foremost painter of Roman topography in the 18th century^[140]
• Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682–1754), painter, illustrator and designer. His most popular work is the celebrated Fortune Teller (1740)
• Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709), painter, a leading exponent of the baroque style. His masterpiece is the nave ceiling of the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome
• Mattia Preti (1613–1699), painter, called Il Calabrese for his birthplace. His most substantial undertaking was the decoration of St. John's, Valletta
• Guido Reni (1575–1642), painter noted for the classical idealism of his renderings of mythological and religious subjects
• Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734), painter. He is remembered for his decorative paintings, which mark the transition between the late Baroque and the development of the Rococo style
• Salvator Rosa (1615–1673), painter, etcher and poet, known for his spirited battle pieces painted in the style of Falcone, for his marines, and especially for his landscapes
• Francesco Solimena (1657–1747), painter. The leading artist of the Neapolitan Baroque during the first half of the 18th century^[141]
• Massimo Stanzione (c. 1586 – c. 1656), painter. His style has a distinctive refinement and grace that has earned him the nickname "the Neapolitan Guido Reni."^[142]
• Bernardo Strozzi (c. 1581 – 1644), painter
• Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), painter. His frescoes in the Palazzo Labia and the doge's palace won him international fame
• Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1727–1804), painter and printmaker. His most noted early works are the chinoiserie decorations of the Villa Valmarana in Vicenza (1757)

The 1800s

• Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868), painter of the macchiaioli group
• Andrea Appiani (1754–1817), fresco painter active in Milan and a court painter of Napoleon
• Giovanni Boldini (1842–1931), painter, one of the most renowned society portraitists of his day. He worked mainly in Paris, where he settled in 1872
• Fyodor Bruni (1799–1875), painter who worked in the Academic style
• Constantino Brumidi (1805–1880), Italian-American painter, whose best-known works are his frescoes in the Capitol building, Washington, D.C.
• Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844), painter. His many drawings reveal a fluid technique and lively artistic imagination
• Antonio Ciseri (1821–1891), painter of religious subjects
• Giuseppe De Nittis (1846–1884), painter, mainly of landscapes and scenes of city life
• Giacomo Di Chirico (1844–1883), Neapolitan painter
• Ciro Denza (1844-1915), Neapolitan painter of landscapes and seascapes.
• Giovanni Fattori (1825–1908), painter; leading figure of the macchiaioli school
• Teresa Fioroni-Voigt (1799–1880), was a miniaturist
• Francesco Hayez (1791–1882), painter, the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan. His masterpiece is The Kiss (1859)
• Cesare Maccari (1840–1919), painter and sculptor, most famous for his fresco at Palazzo Madama portraying Cicero revealing Catilina's plot (1888)
• Carlo De Notaris (1812-1888) painter, Neoclassic style.
• Romualdo Prati (1874–1930), painter, mostly known for portraits. He also worked in Brazil.
• Enrico Sartori (1831–1889), painter, mainly of genre subjects^[143]
• Anatolio Scifoni (1841–1884), painter of genre paintings^[144]
• Giovanni Segantini (1858–1899), painter known for his Alpine landscapes and allegorical pictures, which blended Symbolist content with the technique of Neo-Impressionism

The 1900s

• Pietro Annigoni (1910–1988), painter (and occasional sculptor), the only artist of his time to become internationally famous as a society and state portraitist^[145]
• Giacomo Balla (1871–1958), painter, sculptor, stage designer, decorative artist and actor. He was one of the originators of Futurism
• Alziro Bergonzo (1906–1997), architect and painter
• Vincenzo Bianchini (1903–2000), painter, sculptor, writer, poet, doctor and philosopher
• Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916), painter, sculptor and theorist. His painting The City Rises (1910) is a dynamic composition of swirling human figures in a fragmented crowd scene
• Erma Bossi (1875-1952), German Expressionist painter
• Alberto Burri (1915–1995), painter and sculptor. He was one of the first artists to exploit the evocative force of waste materials, looking forward to Trash art in America and Arte Povera in Italy
• Aldo Carpi (1886–1973), rector of the Brera Academy and author of a collection of memoirs concerning his imprisonment in the infamous Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
• Carlo Carrà (1881–1966), painter, known for his still lifes in the style of Metaphysical painting
• Bruno Caruso (1927–2018), painter, illustrator and political activist. He was a celebrated Italian Social Realist and member of the Italian neorealism movement.
• Nicoletta Ceccoli (born 1973), children's book illustrator
• Francesco Clemente (born 1952), painter and draftsman whose dramatic figural imagery was a major component in the revitalization of Italian art beginning in the 1980s
• Enzo Cucchi (born 1949), painter, draughtsman and sculptor. He was a key member of the Italian Transavantgarde movement
• Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), painter, founder of the scuola metafisica art movement
• Annalaura di Luggo
• Lazzaro Donati (1926–1977), painter. Born in Florence and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. He began to paint in 1953, and in 1955 held his first exhibition at the Indiano Gallery in Florence.
• Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), painter, sculptor and theorist, founder of Spatialism, noted for gashed monochrome paintings
• Renato Guttuso (1911–1987), painter. He was a forceful personality and Italy's leading exponent of Social realism in the 20th century
• Piero Manzoni (1933–1963), artist. He is regarded as one of the forerunners of Arte Povera and Conceptual art
• Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), painter and sculptor whose portraits and nudes, characterized by asymmetrical compositions, are among the most important portraits of the 20th century^[146]
• Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964), painter and etcher. He is widely acknowledged as a major Italian painter of the 20th century
• Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo (1868–1907), painter. His most famous work is The Fourth Estate (1901); a symbol of the 20th
• Giovanni Pelliccioli (born 1947), surrealist painter. In 1993 he created a new form in the world of the artistic painting – the "triangle"
• Luigi Russolo (1885–1947), painter. One of the five signers of the basic 1910 "Manifesto of Futurist Painting" before switching his attention to music
• Emilio Scanavino (1922–1986), painter and sculptor. One of the most important protagonists of the Spatialist movement in Italy^[147]
• Gino Severini (1883–1966), painter who synthesized the styles of Futurism and Cubism
• Mario Sironi (1885–1961), painter, sculptor, illustrator and designer. He was the leading artist of the Novecento Italiano group in the 1920s, developing a muscular, monumental figurative style
• Antonio Diego Voci (1920–1985), painter. Born in Gasperina, Calabria, Italy. Artist of a Thousand Faces. Surrealism Cubism Fauvism Realism Italian
• Sergio Zanni (born 1942), painter and sculptor
• Giulia Andreani (born 1985), painter. She works on archives and develops a history painting.

Ancient and Late Antique

• Lucius Accius (170 BC–c. 86 BC), Roman poet. Author of more than 40 tragedies with subjects taken from Greek mythology
• Livius Andronicus (c. 284 BC–c. 204 BC), founder of Roman epic poetry and drama^[185]
• Arator (480/490–?), Christian poet, his best known work, De Actibus Apostolorum, is a verse history of the Apostles
• Boethius (470/475–524), Roman scholar, Christian philosopher, and statesman, author of the celebrated De consolatione philosophiae
• Cassiodorus (490 – c. 585), historian, statesman, and monk who helped to save the culture of Rome at a time of impending barbarism^[186]
• Catullus (c. 84 BC–c. 54 BC), Roman poet whose expressions of love and hatred are generally considered the finest lyric poetry of ancient Rome^[187]
• Ennius (239 BC–169 BC), epic poet, dramatist, and satirist, the most influential of the early Latin poets, rightly called the founder of Roman literature^[188]
• Julius Firmicus Maternus (?–?), Christian Latin writer and astrologer
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus (?–c. 90), Roman poet. He wrote an eight-book epic, the Argonautica, on Jason's fabled quest for the Golden Fleece
• Venantius Fortunatus (c. 540 – c. 600), poet and bishop of Poitiers, whose Latin poems and hymns combine echoes of classical Latin poets with medieval tone^[189]
• Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40–103), Roman administrator and writer. His most famous work De aquaeductu, in two books written after he was appointed curator of the Roman water-supply (97)
• Aulus Gellius (c. 125–after 180), Latin author and grammarian remembered for his miscellany Attic Nights, in which many fragments of lost works are preserved
• Horace (65 BC–8 BC), Roman poet, outstanding Latin lyric poet and satirist under the emperor Augustus
• Juvenal (55/60–127), most powerful of all Roman satiric poets^[190]
• Livy (59/64 BC–AD 17), one of the great Roman historians^[191]
• Lucretius (c. 99 BC–c. 55 BC), Roman poet and philosopher known for his single, long poem, De rerum natura^[192]
• Gnaeus Naevius (c. 270 BC–c. 200 BC), second of a triad of early Latin epic poets and dramatists, between Livius Andronicus and Ennius^[193]
• Cornelius Nepos (c. 100 BC–c. 25 BC), Roman biographer. His only extant work is a collection of biographies, mostly from a lost larger work, De Viris Illustribus (on illustrious men)
• Ovid (43 BC–17 AD), Roman poet noted especially for his Ars amatoria and Metamorphoses^[194]
• Persius (34–62), Roman satirist, author of six satires, which show the influence of Horace and of Stoicism and which were imitated by John Donne and translated by John Dryden (1692)^[195]
• Petronius (d. 66 AD), reputed author of the Satyricon, a literary portrait of Roman society of the 1st century AD^[196]
• Plautus (c. 254 BC–184 BC), Roman comic dramatist, whose works, loosely adapted from Greek plays, established a truly Roman drama in the Latin language
• Pliny the Elder (23–79), Roman savant and author of the celebrated Natural History^[197]
• Pliny the Younger (61/62–c. 113),^[198] Roman author and administrator
• Sextus Propertius (55/43 BC–16 BC), elegiac poet of ancient Rome
• Gaius Musonius Rufus (1st century AD), Roman Stoic philosopher, known as the teacher of Epictetus
• Sallust (86 BC–35/34 BC), Roman historian and one of the great Latin literary stylists^[199]
• Silius Italicus (c. 26–102), Roman poet and politician. He was the author of the longest surviving Latin poem, Punica, an epic in 17 books on the Second Punic War (218–202 BC)^[200]
• Statius (c. 45–c. 96), one of the principal Roman epic and lyric poets of the Silver Age of Latin literature (18–133)
• Suetonius (69–after 122), Roman biographer and antiquarian whose writings include De viris illustribus and De vita Caesarum^[201]
• Quintus Aurelius Symmachus (c. 345–402), Roman statesman, orator and writer who was a leading opponent of Christianity
• Tibullus (c. 55 BC–c. 19 BC), Roman poet
• Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC–27 BC), scholar and satirist, known for his Saturae Menippeae^[202]
• Marcus Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC–c. AD 31), Roman historian. Author of a short history of Rome which he wrote to commemorate the consulship of his friend Marcus Vinicius (AD 30)
• Virgil (70 BC–19 BC), Roman poet, known for his national epic, the Aeneid

The Middle Ages

• Albertanus of Brescia (c. 1195 – c. 1251), Latin prose writer; known work is Liber consolationis et consilii ("The book of consolation and council")
• Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), poet; known for the epic poem The Divine Comedy
• Cecco Angiolieri (c. 1260 – c. 1312), poet who is considered by some the first master of Italian comic verse^[203]
• Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), founder of Scholasticism; he was one of the most important Christian thinkers of the 11th century
• Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 – 1274), philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition; his most influential work is the Summa Theologica (1265–1274) which consists of three parts^[204]
• Bonaventure (1221–1274), leading medieval theologian, philosopher, minister general of the Franciscan order and cardinal bishop of Albano. He wrote several works on the spiritual life
• Boncompagno da Signa (c. 1165/1175–1240), philosopher, grammarian and historian
• Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1255 – 1300), poet, a major figure among the Florentine poets
• Gioacchino da Fiore (1130–1202), theologian, mystic and esotericist. His thoughts inspired many philosophical movements as the Joachimites and the Florians
• Dino Compagni (c. 1255 – 1324), historical writer and political figure
• Pietro d'Abano (1257–1315), physician, philosopher, and astrologer
• Bonvesin da la Riva (c. 1240 – c. 1313), poet and writer
• Francis of Assisi (1181/1182–1226), founder of the Franciscan orders of the Friars Minor
• Giacomo da Lentini (fl. 13th century), poet. He is traditionally credited with the invention of the sonnet^[205]
• Guido delle Colonne (c. 1215 – c. 1290), jurist, poet, and Latin prose writer; author of a prose narrative of the Trojan War entitled Historia destructionis Troiae (completed about 1287)
• Guido Guinizelli (c. 1230 – 1276), considered a precursor of Dante and the originator of the so-called dolce stil novo, or sweet new style^[206]
• Guittone d'Arezzo (c. 1235 – 1294), poet and the founder of the Tuscan School
• Jacobus de Voragine (1228/30–1298), archbishop of Genoa, chronicler, and author of the Golden Legend; one of the most popular religious works of the Middle Ages^[207]
• Jacopone da Todi (c. 1230 – 1306), Franciscan poet; he wrote many ardent, mystical poems and is probably the author of the Latin poem Stabat Mater Dolorosa^[208]
• Lanfranc (c. 1005 – 1089), philosopher and theologian
• Brunetto Latini (c. 1220 – 1294), philosopher, scholar and statesman; wrote, in French, Li livres dou tresor, the first vernacular encyclopedia
• Peter Lombard (c. 1100 – 1160), theologian; his philosophical work, the Four Books of Sentences, was the standard theological text of the Middle Ages^[209]
• Marsilius of Padua (1270–1342), political philosopher, whose work Defensor pacis ("Defender of the Peace"), one of the most revolutionary of medieval documents
• Matthew of Aquasparta (1240–1302), Franciscan and scholastic philosopher
• Michael of Cesena (c. 1270 – 1342), Franciscan, general of that Order, and theologian
• Thomas of Celano (c. 1200 – c. 1255), Friar Minor and poet; author of three hagiographies about Saint Francis of Assisi
• Giovanni Villani (c. 1275 – 1348), chronicler whose European attitude to history foreshadowed Humanism^[210]

Humanism and the Renaissance

• Pietro Aretino (1492–1556), writer and satirist; known for his literary attacks on his wealthy and powerful contemporaries and for six volumes of letters
• Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), poet remembered for his epic poem Orlando furioso (1516)
• Pietro Bembo (1470–1547), cardinal who wrote one of the earliest Italian grammars and assisted in establishing the Italian literary language^[211]
• Francesco Berni (1497/98–1535), poet; important for the distinctive style of his Italian burlesque, which was called bernesco and imitated by many poets^[212]
• Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), poet and scholar, author of De mulieribus claris, the Decameron and poems in the vernacular
• Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440/41–1494), poet whose Orlando innamorato, the first poem to combine elements of both Arthurian and Carolingian traditions of romance^[213]
• Giovanni Botero (c. 1544 – 1617), philosopher and diplomat, known for his work The Reason of State (1589)
• Luigi Da Porto (1485–1530), writer and storiographer, better known as the author of the novel Novella novamente ritrovata with the story of Romeo and Juliet, later adapted by William Shakespeare for his famous drama
• Leonardo Bruni (c. 1370 – 1444), a leading historian of his time. He wrote History of the Florentine People (1414–15); is generally considered the first modern work of history
• Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), philosopher; his major metaphysical works, De la causa, principio, et Uno (1584) and De l'infinito universo et Mondi (1584), were published in France
• Giulio Camillo (c. 1480 – 1544), philosopher; known for his theatre, described in his posthumously published work L’Idea del Theatro
• Tommaso Campanella(1568 – 1639), Dominican friar, philosopher and poet. His most significant work was The City of the Sun, a utopia describing an egalitarian theocratic society where property is held in common
• Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529), courtier, diplomat and writer, known for his dialogue The Book of the Courtier; one of the great books of its time^[214]
• Francesco Colonna (1433–1527), author of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.
• Cesare Cremonini (1550–1631), Aristotelian philosopher at Padua University
• Mario Equicola (c. 1470 – 1525), writer; author of Libro de natura de amore (1525) and Istituzioni del comporre in ogni sorta di rima della lingua volgare (1541)
• Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), philosopher; his chief work was Theologia Platonica de immortalitate animae (1482), in which he combined Christian theology and Neoplatonic elements
• Francesco Filelfo (1398–1481), writer; author of pieces in prose, published under the title Convivia Mediolanensia, and a great many Latin translations from the Greek
• Veronica Franco (1546–1591), poet and high-ranking courtesan; famous in her day for her intellectual and artistic accomplishments
• Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538–1612), poet who, with Torquato Tasso, is credited with establishing the form of a new literary genre, the pastoral drama^[215]
• Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540), historian; author of the most important contemporary History of Italy (1537–1540); the masterwork of Italian historical literature of the Renaissance
• Cristoforo Landino (1424–1498), writer; he wrote three works framed as philosophical dialogues: De anima (1453), De vera nobilitate (1469), and the Disputationes Camaldulenses (c. 1474)
• Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), political philosopher and writer; known for his The Prince (written in 1513 and published in 1532); one of the world's most famous essays on political science
• Giannozzo Manetti (1396–1459), politician and diplomat; significant scholar of the early Italian Renaissance
• Girolamo Mei (1519–1594), writer; his treatise De modis musicis antiquorum (a study of ancient Greek music) greatly influenced the ideas of the Florentine Camerata
• Guidobaldo del Monte (1545–1607), mathematician, philosopher and astronomer; known for his work Mechanicorum Liber (1577)
• Gianfrancesco Straparola (1480–1557), writer, whose collection of 75 stories Le piacevoli notti contains the first known versions of many popular fairy tales. Along with Basile, he set the standards for the literary form of fairy tale
• Agostino Nifo (c. 1473 – 1538 or 1545), philosopher and commentator; his principal works are: De intellectu et daemonibus (1492) and De immortalitate animi (1518–1524)
• Marius Nizolius (1498–1576), philosopher and scholar; his major work was the Thesaurus Ciceronianus, published in 1535
• Franciscus Patricius (1529–1597), philosopher and scientist. His two great works: Discussionum peripateticorum libri XV (1571) and Nova de universis philosophia (1591)
• Petrarch (1304–1374), scholar and poet; his Il Canzoniere had enormous influence on the poets of the 15th and 16th centuries
• Alessandro Piccolomini (1508–1579), philosopher; his works include Il Dialogo della bella creanza delle donne, o Raffaella (1539) and the comedies Amor costante (1536) and Alessandro (1544)
• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), scholar and Platonist philosopher; his Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) is better known than any other philosophical text of the 15th century
• Bartolomeo Platina (1421–1481), writer and gastronomist. Author of Lives of the Popes (1479); the first systematic handbook of papal history and On honourable pleasure and health (1465); the world's first printed cookbook
• Poliziano (1454–1494), poet and philologist; among his works: Stanze per la giostra (incomplete) and Orfeo (1475)
• Pietro Pomponazzi (1462–1525), philosopher; his principal work is On the Immortality of the Soul (1516)
• Simone Porzio (1496–1554), philosopher. His principal works are: An homo bonus, vel malus volens fiat (1551) and De mente humana (1551)
• Francesco Pucci (1543–1597), philosopher; author of Forma d'una repubblica cattolica (1581)
• Luigi Pulci (1432–1484), poet; he ridiculed the heroic poems of his time in his mock epic Morgante (1478, 1483)
• Ottavio Rinuccini (1562–1621), poet, courtier and opera librettist
• Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), philosopher, man of letters and a skilled writer; Coluccio drew heavily upon the classical tradition
• Jacopo Sannazaro (1456–1530), poet; author of Arcadia (1501–1504), first pastoral romance^[216]
• Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484–1558), scholar; author of De causis linguae Latinae (1540) and Poetics (1561)^[217]
• Sperone Speroni (1500–1588), philosopher and scholar; he was one of the central members of Padua's literary academy, Accademia degli Infiammati, and wrote on both moral and literary matters
• Torquato Tasso (1544–1595), poet, one of the foremost writers of the Renaissance, celebrated for his heroic epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1581)^[218]
• Bernardino Telesio (1509–1588), philosopher; his chief work was De rerum natura iuxta propria principia (1565), marked the period of transition from Aristotelianism to modern thought
• Gian Giorgio Trissino (1478–1550), literary theorist, philologist, dramatist, and poet, an important innovator in Italian drama^[219]
• Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457), rhetorician, and educator who attacked medieval traditions and anticipated views of the Protestant reformers
• Lucilio Vanini (1585–1619), philosopher; author of Amphitheatrum Aeternae Providentiae Divino-Magicum (1615) and De Admirandis Naturae Reginae Deaeque Mortalium Arcanis (1616)
• Benedetto Varchi (1502/1503–1565), poet and historian; known for his work Storia fiorentina (16 vol.), published only in 1721
• Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), writer, architect and painter, known for his entertaining biographies of artists, Le Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani (1550)^[220]
• Nicoletto Vernia (1442–1499), Averroist philosopher, at the University of Padua
• Giovanni della Casa (1503–1556), poet, writer and diplomat. His Il Galateo (1558), the most celebrated etiquette book in European history, set the foundation for modern etiquette, polite behavior and manners literature^[221]

The Baroque period and the Enlightenment

• Claudio Achillini (1574–1640), poet and jurist; one of the better known Marinisti
• Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803), tragic poet; from 1775 to 1787, wrote 19 verse tragedies; his works include Filippo (1775), Oreste (1786) and Mirra (1786)
• Francesco Algarotti (1712–1764), philosopher and art critic; author of a number of stimulating essays on the subjects of architecture (1753), the opera (1755), and painting (1762)^[222]
• Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), philosopher and mathematician; first woman to write a mathematics handbook and first woman as mathematics professor in a university^[223]
• Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti (1719–1789), literary critic; author of Italian Library (1757)
• Giambattista Basile (c. 1575 – 1632), poet; his collection of 50 short stories Pentamerone (1634–6), provided the content later borrowed by Charles Perrault and Brothers Grimm. With Straparola, he is one of the two fathers of fairy tale tradition
• Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), philosopher, criminologist and jurist; works include his treatise Dei delitti e delle pene (1763–4)^[224]
• Saverio Bettinelli (1718–1808), writer; author of Lettere dieci di Virgilio agli Arcadi (1758)
• Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639), Dominican philosopher and writer; remembered for his socialistic work The City of the Sun (1602)^[225]
• Giacomo Casanova (1725– 1798), was author and adventurer from the Republic of Venice
• Giuseppe Lorenzo Maria Casaregi (1670–1737), jurist and advocate
• Melchiorre Cesarotti (1730–1808), poet and translator; author of Essay on the Philosophy of Taste (1785) and Essay on the Philosophy of Languages (1785)
• Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684), philosopher, first woman to graduate from a university with a doctorate
• Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838), poet and librettist; his most important librettos were for Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790)
• Carlo Denina (1731–1813), historian; author of Delle rivoluzioni d'Italia (1769–70) and Delle revoluzioni della Germania (1804)
• Antonio Genovesi (1712–1769), writer and political; author of Disciplinarum Metaphysicarum Elementa (1743–52) and Logica (1745)
• Pietro Giannone (1676–1748), historian and jurist; his most important work was his Il Triregno, ossia del regno del cielo, della terra, e del papa; published only in 1895
• Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793), playwright; wrote more than 260 dramatic works of all sorts, including opera
• Gasparo Gozzi (1713–1786), poet, critic and journalist. His principal writings are: Lettere famigliari (1755), Il Mondo morale (1760) and Osservatore Veneto periodico (1761)
• Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538–1612), poet and theoretician of literature; his best-known work is Il pastor fido (1590), a pastoral tragicomedy
• Scipione Maffei (1675–1755), writer and art critic; his most important works: Conclusioni di amore (1702), La scienza cavalleresca (1710) and De fabula equestris ordinis Constantiniani (1712)
• Giambattista Marino (1569–1625), poet. Founder of the school of Marinism (later Secentismo); among his principal works is L'Adone (1623), a long narrative poem
• Metastasio (1698–1782), poet and librettist; considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti. His melodrama Attilio Regolo (1750) is generally considered his masterpiece
• Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672–1750), historian; author of Antiquitates Italicae Medii Aevi (6 vols; 1738–42) and Annali d'Italia (12 vols; 1744–49)
• Ferrante Pallavicino (1615–1644) satirist and novelist; his most important works: Baccinata ouero battarella per le api barberine (1642) and La Retorica delle puttane (1643)
• Giuseppe Parini (1729–1799), prose writer and poet; author of Dialogo sopra la nobiltà (1757) and Il giorno (4 books, 1763–1801)
• Cesare Ripa (c. 1560 – c. 1622), aesthetician and writer; author of the Iconologia overo Descrittione Dell’imagini Universali cavate dall’Antichità et da altri luoghi (1593), an influential emblem book
• Paolo Vergani (1753–1820), economist of the Papal States
• Alessandro Verri (1741–1816), novelist and reformer; author of Le avventure di Saffo poetessa di Mitilene (1782), Notti romane al sepolcro degli Scipioni (1792–1804) and La vita di Erostrato (1815)
• Pietro Verri (1728–1797), political economist and writer; his chief works are: Riflessioni sulle leggi vincolanti (1769) and Meditazioni sull' economia politica (1771)
• Giambattista Vico (1668–1744), philosopher and historian; his major theories were developed in his Scienza nuova (1725)

The 1800s

• Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli (1791–1863), poet; he described the vast panorama of Roman society in colorful dialect
• Giovanni Berchet (1783–1851), patriot and poet; he wrote stirring patriotic ballads of a romantic type and rhymed romances, such as Giulia and Matilde
• Luigi Capuana (1839–1915), critic and novelist; among his best works are the short stories in Paesane (1894) and the novel Il marchese di Roccaverdina (1901)
• Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), poet, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1906, and one of the most influential literary figures of his age^[226]
• Carlo Collodi (1826–1890), author and journalist, best known as the creator of the canonical piece of children's literature and world's most translated non-religious book The Adventures of Pinocchio^[227]
• Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938), poet, military hero and political leader; author of Il piacere (1889), L'innocente (1892), Giovanni Episcopo (1892) and Il trionfo della morte (1894)^[228]
• Edmondo De Amicis (1846–1908), novelist and short-story writer; his most important work is the sentimental children's story Heart (1886)^[229]
• Federico De Roberto (1861–1927), writer; known for his novel I Vicerè (1894)
• Francesco de Sanctis (1817–1883), historian and literary critic; important works are his Saggi critici (1866) and his Storia della letteratura italiana (1870–71)^[230]
• Antonio Fogazzaro (1842–1911), novelist and poet; his famous Piccolo mondo antico (1896), it is considered one of the great Italian novels of the 19th century
• Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), poet and patriot; his popular novel The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis (1802) bitterly denounced Napoleon's cession of Venetia to Austria^[231]
• Vincenzo Gioberti (1801–1852), philosopher and political writer; his most celebrated work is Del primato morale e civile degli italiani (1843)^[232]
• Giuseppe Giusti (1809–1850), satirical poet; known for his poem, Sant’Ambrogio (c. 1846)
• Raimondo Guarini (1765–1852), archaeologist, epigrapher, poet; authored the first Oscan/Latin dictionary
• Francesco Guicciardini (1851–1915), member of the Italian cabinet
• Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), poet and philosopher; author of Canti (1816–37), expressing a deeply pessimistic view of humanity and human nature
• Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), poet and novelist; he is famous for the novel The Betrothed, generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature
• Ippolito Nievo (1831–1861), writer and patriot; known for his novel Confessioni di un Italiano, also known as Confessioni d'un ottuagenario which was published posthumously in 1867
• Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912), poet; his works include Carmina (in Latin, 1914), the more mystical Myricae (1891) and the patriotic Odi e inni (1906)
• Silvio Pellico (1789–1854), dramatic poet; his principal works are Francesca da Rimini (1818) and Le mie prigioni (1832)
• Antonio Rosmini-Serbati (1797–1855), religious philosopher; he is known for his work, Nuovo saggio sull’origine delle idee, published in 1830
• Emilio Salgari (1862–1911), adventure novelist for the young; creator of popular heroic figure Sandokan
• Niccolò Tommaseo (1802–1874), poet and critic; editor of a Dizionario della Lingua Italiana in eight volumes (1861–74), of a dictionary of synonyms (1830) and other works
• Achille Torelli (1841–1922), playwright
• Giovanni Verga (1840–1922), novelist; his works include Cavalleria rusticana (1880), I Malavoglia (1881), Novelle rusticane (1883), and Mastro-Don Gesualdo (1889)^[233]

The 1900s

• Nicola Abbagnano (1901–1990), author of such books as La struttura dell'esistenza (1939). He was the first and most important Italian existentialist
• Corrado Alvaro (1895–1956), novelist and journalist; author of Gente in Aspromonte, considered by most critics to be his masterpiece
• Giulio Angioni (1939–2017), novelist and anthropologist
• Max Ascoli (1898–1978), philosopher and lawyer migrated in United States of America
• Giorgio Bassani (1916–2000), novelist; his most acclaimed work, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, published in 1962
• Carmelo Bene (1937–2002), actor, poet, theater director, film director and screenwriter author of One Hamlet Less, Salomè.
• Vitaliano Brancati (1907–1954), writer; in 1950 won the Bagutta Prize
• Norberto Bobbio (1909– 2004), philosopher of law and political sciences and a historian of political thought.
• Gesualdo Bufalino (1920–1996), writer; his novel, Le menzogne della notte (1988) won the Strega Prize
• Dino Buzzati (1906–1972), writer, novelist and painter; his most famous work is a novel, The Tartar Steppe, published in 1940
• Italo Calvino (1923–1985), novelist; his trilogy of historical fantasies The Cloven Viscount (1952), The Baron in the Trees (1957), and The Nonexistent Knight (1959) brought him international acclaim
• Andrea Camilleri (1925–2019), writer; the creator of the popular Inspector Salvo Montalbano
• Dino Campana (1885–1932), poet, author of Canti Orfici.
• Carlo Cassola (1917–1987), neorealist novelist; known for his novel, Bébo's Girl, published in 1960
• Benedetto Croce (1866–1952), historian, humanist, and foremost Italian philosopher of the first half of the 20th century^[234]
• Erri De Luca (born 1950), poet and writer; author of Aceto, arcobaleno (1992), Tre cavalli (2000) and Montedidio (2002)
• Victoria de Stefano (1940–2023), novelist migrated in Venezuela, essayist, philosopher and educator.
• Grazia Deledda (1871–1936), novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1926; her best-known works are Elias Portolu (1903), Cenere (1904), and La madre (1920)^[235]
• Umberto Eco (1932–2016), novelist; internationally known for his novel The Name of the Rose (1980)^[236]
• Julius Evola (1898–1974), philosopher and social thinker; one of the leading exponents of the Hermetic tradition
• Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006), author, and political interviewer; important works are her The Rage and the Pride (2001) and The Force of Reason (2004)
• Beppe Fenoglio (1922–1963), novelist; he is known for his novel Il partigiano Johnny, which was published posthumously (and incomplete) in 1968
• Dario Fo (1926–2016), satirist, playwright, theater director, actor, and composer. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997^[237]
• Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973), novelist; known novel is That Awful Mess on Via Merulana (1957)
• Francesco Gaeta (1879–1927)
• Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944), idealist philosopher, politician, educator, and editor, sometimes called the “Philosopher of Fascism”
• Natalia Ginzburg (1916–1991), novelist; known for her novels La strada che va in città (1942), È stato così (1947) and Le voci della sera (1961)
• Giovannino Guareschi (1908–1968), journalist and novelist, known as author of The Little World of Don Camillo (tr. 1950) and its sequels
• José Ingenieros (1877–1925), physician, pharmacist, positivist philosopher and essayist.
• Tommaso Landolfi (1908–1979), author and translator; most known and translated work is Racconto d'autunno (1947)
• Carlo Levi (1902–1975), writer, painter, and political journalist; known for his book, Christ Stopped at Eboli, published in 1945^[238]
• Primo Levi (1919–1987), writer and chemist; his first memoir, If This Is a Man has been described as one of the most important works of the 20th century^[239]
• Claudio Magris (born 1939), writer; author of Illazioni su una sciabola (1984), Danubio (1986), Stadelmann (1988), Un altro mare (1991) and Microcosmi (1997)
• Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944), writer and novelist. The ideological founder of Futurism; among his works are Le Roi Bombance (1905) and Futurist Manifesto (1909)
• Alda Merini (1931–2009), writer and poet.
• Eugenio Montale (1896–1981), poet whose works, which greatly influenced 20th-century Italian literature, include Le Occasioni (1939) and Satura (1962). He won the 1975 Nobel Prize for literature
• Indro Montanelli (1909–2001), journalist and historian, known for his new approach to writing history in books such as History of Rome (1957) and History of the Greeks (1959)
• Elsa Morante (1912–1985), novelist and poet; her most acclaimed work, History, published in 1974
• Alberto Moravia (1907–1990), novelist; author of Gli indifferenti (1929) and of the anti-fascist novel, The Conformist (1951)
• Aldo Palazzeschi (1885–1974), novelist and poet; known for his novel Il codice di Perelà published in 1911
• Cesare Pavese (1908–1950), poet, novelist and translator; his major works include Il Compagno (1947), Tra Donne Sole (1948) and The Moon and the Bonfires (1949)
• Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), writer and dramatist, winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize for Literature; known for a series of novels and the modernist play, Six Characters in Search of an Author
• Vasco Pratolini (1913–1991), writer and novelist; his most important literary works are the novels Family Diary (1947), Chronicle of Poor Lovers (1947) and Metello (1955)
• Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), poet; his works include La terra impareggiabile (1958) and Dare e avere (1966). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1959^[240]
• Mario Rigoni Stern (1921–2008), his major works include Il sergente nella neve (1953), Storia di Tönle (1978) and Le stagioni di Giacomo (1995)
• Gianni Rodari (1920–1980), writer and journalist; he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1970
• Alejandro Rossi (1932–2009), writer and philosopher
• Rafael Sabatini (1875–1950), Italian-British writer of novels of romance and adventure. He remains best known for The Sea Hawk (1915), Scaramouche (1921) and Captain Blood (1922)
• Giovanni Sartori (1924–2017). political scientist who specialized in the study of democracy, political parties and comparative politics.
• Leonardo Sciascia (1921–1989), writer; author of The Day of the Owl (1961) and To Each His Own (1966)
• Filippo Scòzzari (born 1946), novelist and comic writer
• Vittorio Sgarbi (born 1952), art critic, art historian, writer, politician, cultural commentator and television personality
• Ignazio Silone (1900–1978), novelist and journalist; known for his novel Fontamara (1930); was translated into 14 languages^[241]
• Italo Svevo (1861–1928), novelist; his best-known work, which has been called Italy's first modernist novel, is Zeno's Conscience (1923)
• Antonio Tabucchi (1943–2012), writer; author of Notturno Indiano (1984) and Sostiene Pereira (1994)
• Susanna Tamaro (born 1957), novelist. Known for the bestseller Va' dove ti porta il cuore (1994)
• Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896–1957), novelist; internationally renowned for his work, The Leopard, published posthumously in 1958^[242]
• Pier Vittorio Tondelli (1955–1991), writer; author of Altri Libertini (1980) and Dinner Party (1994)
• Federigo Tozzi (1883–1920), writer; known for his novel Con gli occhi chiusi published in 1919
• Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), poet, founder of the Hermetic movement that brought about a reorientation in modern Italian poetry^[243]
• Elio Vittorini (1908–1966), novelist; his works, among them The Twilight of the Elephant (1947) and The Red Carnation (1948), make a serious attempt to assess the Fascist experience^[244]