But the two latest exhibitions at the Walters Art Museum are proof that history is rife with masterful artists, who, although they perhaps aren’t remembered as the most groundbreaking, can still teach us about method, creativity, and ultimately, beauty.

Take, for example, the painter Carlo Crivelli, the subject of “A Renaissance Original: Carlo Crivelli”. Leonardo Da Vinci is likely the first Renaissance painter who comes to mind, but artists like Crivelli, who lived on Italy’s east coast and were far from the Italian artistic capitol Florence, were also creating intricate, innovative works.

“It’s a reminder that excellence can pop up anywhere,” says Joneath Spicer, the exhibit’s curator as well as the Walters’ Renaissance and Baroque art curator. “It doesn’t have to be in New York, it doesn’t have to be in Florence.”

The second exhibit centers on a 16th-century figure you may have heard of, but you might not have realized that she was an artist herself. Madame de Pompadour, the influential mistress of King Louie XV of France, was thought of as solely an arts patron until Susan Wager, the curator of “Madame de Pompadour, Patron and Printmaker”, discovered etchings in the Walters’ collection that Pompadour had created, which were thought to be lost.

“Art historians have questioned her seriousness as an artist,” Wager said, “but these works show that she was indeed serious.”

Pompadour made the etchings from gems carved with images ranging from classical figures to a portrait of her dog Bébé. Also present in the exhibit are works she likely owned—vases and porcelains—featuring an ornate splendor that unites her with Crivelli. All it takes is one look at his lusciously detailed, gold-accented work to realize that you won’t forget this artist any time soon.

“A Renaissance Original: Carlo Crivelli” runs through May 22 and “Madame de Pompadour, Patron and Printmaker” runs through May 29. Both are free.

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