The Canon
The important thinkers in high culture — from Homer to Stravinsky. Literature, philosophy, visual arts, and music across twenty-seven centuries.
322 figures — 135 in literature & philosophy, 113 in visual arts, 74 in music
Literature & Philosophy
Visual Arts & Architecture
Music & Performing Arts
Ancient Greece & Rome
800 BC – 400 AD500–300 BC
300 BC – 400 AD
EpicurusCiceroLucretiusVitruviusVirgilHoraceOvidSenecaJesus of NazarethPaul the ApostleJohn the EvangelistPlutarchEpictetusMarcus AureliusIrenaeus of LyonClement of AlexandriaTertullianOrigenPlotinusEusebius of CaesareaAthanasius of AlexandriaGregory of NazianzusBasil the GreatGregory of NyssaAmbrose of Milan
Late Antiquity & Medieval
400 – 1400 AD400–800
800–1200
1200–1400
Ibn Rushd (Averroes)Francis of AssisiYahya al-WasitiRumiSafiyy al-Din al-UrmawiThomas AquinasCimabueArnolfo di CambioDuccioMeister EckhartDante AlighieriGiottoManuel PanselinosJoannes KoukouzelesSimone MartiniGregory PalamasGuillaume de MachautPetrarchOrcagnaBoccaccioHafizIbn KhaldunTheophanes the GreekGeoffrey ChaucerAndrei Rublev
Renaissance
1400 – 1600 AD1400–1500
1500–1600
Leonardo da VinciErasmusMachiavelliMatthias GrunewaldAlbrecht DurerLucas Cranach the ElderLudovico AriostoMichelangeloGiorgioneMatrakçı NasuhRaphaelFuzûlîAndrea del SartoTitianCorreggioMimar SinanFrancois RabelaisHans Holbein the YoungerBenvenuto CelliniThomas TallisAndrea PalladioTintorettoPalestrinaPieter Bruegel the ElderBâkîVeroneseGiambolognaNakkaş OsmanOrlando di LassoMontaigneWilliam ByrdTorquato TassoTomas Luis de VictoriaEdmund SpenserJohn DowlandShakespeareChristopher MarloweCarlo GesualdoMonteverdi
Baroque & Enlightenment
1600 – 1800 AD1600–1700
El GrecoCervantesCaravaggioPeter Paul RubensFrans HalsGeorges de La TourNicolas PoussinDescartesBerniniVelázquezClaude LorrainRembrandtMiltonEvliya ÇelebiMolierePascalJacob van RuisdaelVermeerSpinozaJean-Baptiste LullyChristopher WrenJean RacineBuhurizade Mustafa ItriArcangelo CorelliHenry PurcellFrancois CouperinDimitrie CantemirAntonio VivaldiLevni
1700–1800
Gottfried Wilhelm LeibnizJonathan SwiftGeorg Philipp TelemannJean-Philippe RameauAntoine WatteauJ.S. BachHandelDomenico ScarlattiVoltaireGiambattista TiepoloWilliam HogarthCanalettoJean-Simeon ChardinSamuel JohnsonHumeRousseauGluckC.P.E. BachGiovanni Battista PiranesiSir Joshua ReynoldsKantGeorge StubbsThomas GainsboroughHaydnJean-Honore FragonardMozartAntonio CanovaFriedrich Schiller
Romanticism & 19th Century
1800 – 1900 AD1800–1850
Francisco GoyaJacques-Louis DavidGoetheWilliam BlakeBeethovenHegelCaspar David FriedrichTurnerJohn ConstableHammamizade İsmail Dede EfendiJean-Auguste-Dominique IngresStendhalCarl Maria von WeberSchopenhauerLord ByronGioachino RossiniPercy Bysshe ShelleyJohn KeatsSchubertGaetano DonizettiDelacroixGiacomo LeopardiBalzacAlexander PushkinHector BerliozFelix MendelssohnNikolai GogolChopinRobert SchumannFranz LisztCharles DickensMikhail Lermontov
1850–1900
WagnerVerdiKierkegaardJean-Francois MilletCharlotte BrontëIvan TurgenevEmily BrontëGustave CourbetAnne BrontëDostoevskyFlaubertCharles BaudelaireCesar FranckAnton BrucknerBedrich SmetanaTolstoyHenrik IbsenAlbert BierstadtEdouard ManetBrahmsEdgar DegasJames McNeill WhistlerWinslow HomerGeorges BizetCézanneModest MussorgskyMonetTchaikovskyRodinDvorakPierre-Auguste RenoirNietzscheRimsky-KorsakovIlya RepinThomas EakinsGabriel FaurePaul GauguinAugust StrindbergVincent van GoghJohn Singer SargentEdward ElgarGeorges SeuratHugo WolfAnton ChekhovToulouse-Lautrec
Fin de Siècle & Early Modernism
1900 – 1920 AD1900–1920
Henry JamesJoseph ConradPucciniMahlerDebussyKlimtEdvard MunchRichard StraussJean SibeliusW.B. YeatsErik SatieWassily KandinskyMatisseProustPiet MondrianSergei RachmaninoffArnold SchoenbergThomas MannRilkeMaurice RavelKazimir MalevichBela BartokStravinskyAnton WebernFranz KafkaAlban BergOskar KokoschkaEgon SchieleSergei ProkofievFrancis PoulencPaul CadmusDmitri ShostakovichOlivier MessiaenBenjamin Britten