The international top 20 paintings includes: Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Guernica, The Starry Night, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Creation of Adam, School of Athens, The Birth of Venus, Liberty Leading the People, The Garden of Earthly Delights, Las Meninas, Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Raft of the Medusa, Primavera, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Saturn Devouring His Sn, The Last Judgment, Lady with an Ermine and American Gothic.
Briefly about the method
Wikipedia currently has over 53 million articles in over 300 languages. Despite the impressive number of articles, not all topics can be written in this free encyclopedia. At the same time, the community of each language version has the ability to decide which topic can be described in the encyclopedia, and which is not (for example, article must be notable). In addition, each language version can describe the same topic in its own way – it all depends on the number and experience of interested authors (Wikipedia users who edit articles).
Almost every Wikipedia article has an alignment to certain categories. Additionally, based on the content, you can specify the subject of the article – for example, using semantic relations on Wikidata or DBpedia. More details on the automatic classification process can be found in various scholarly papers (e.g. for articles or sources).
This article selected the most-developed language versions of Wikipedia with more than 1 million articles, including English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Polish and other. After the classification of articles, only those that are dedicated to individual paintings. As a result for English Wikipedia 6503 articles about paintings were found, for Italian – 5735 paintings, for French – 5433 paintings, for Spanish – 3040 paintings, for Russian – 2833 paintings, for Polish – 2419 paintings, for German – 1293 paintings, for Portuguese – 1210 paintings, for Japanese – 548 paintings, for Chinese – 408 paintings and for Arabic – 246 paintings.
As mentioned earlier, every Wikipedia article can have different language versions, so we can find out different names of the same object (painting). Using open data on Wikipedia article views we can find out how many times a given article has been viewed on specific days. After collecting data for viewing all Wikipedia articles on paintings in the appropriate language versions April 2020 ranking of the most popular was made. First, the positions of paintings in the ranking are shown, which were obtained by adding up the page views from different language versions for a given painting. Later, the most popular paintings are shown for only one language version of Wikipedia.
Recently we observed that visitors number for some articles was “overclocked” in some periods of time. Therefore, we decide to provide additional modification of the pageview statistics for such cases and change this number (usually by reduction). Fairness of statistics for each article in selected language version in selected months can be assessed using such indicators as: number of the edits and authors, page protection, the rate of citation increasing of the article, popularity statistics of related keywords (phrases) in Google Trends and others.
1st place – Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, in April 2020 the painting was on the 1st place in Spanish, French, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, on the 2nd place in Arabic, German, English, Italian and Chinese Wikipedia.
2nd place – The Last Supper
The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, in April 2020 the painting was on the 1st place in German, on the 3rd place in Arabic, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, on the 4th place in French, Polish, on the 5th place in Portuguese and Chinese Wikipedia.
3rd place – Guernica
Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso, in April 2020 the painting was on the 1st place in Italian, on the 2nd place in Spanish, on the 3rd place in French, on the 4th place in Japanese, on the 5th place in Arabic, English, on the 7th place in Portuguese, on the 9th place in Chinese, on the 10th place in German, on the 20th place in Polish and on the 23rd place in Russian Wikipedia.
4th place – The Starry Night
The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh, in April 2020 the painting was on the 2nd place in Portuguese, on the 4th place in Arabic, English, Chinese, on the 5th place in Spanish, Italian, on the 7th place in French, on the 8th place in German, Russian, on the 11th place in Polish and on the 19th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
5th place – The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen
The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh, in April 2020 the painting was on the 1st place in Arabic, English, on the 13th place in German, Portuguese, on the 18th place in Russian, on the 20th place in French, on the 204th place in Japanese, on the 318th place in Chinese, on the 566th place in Spanish and on the 737th place in Italian Wikipedia.
6th place – Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis, in April 2020 the painting was on the 1st place in Chinese, on the 2nd place in Japanese, on the 6th place in English, French, on the 7th place in German, on the 8th place in Arabic, on the 11th place in Spanish, on the 15th place in Russian, on the 16th place in Polish, Portuguese and on the 22nd place in Italian Wikipedia.
7th place – The Creation of Adam
The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo, in April 2020 the painting was on the 6th place in Portuguese, on the 7th place in English, Spanish, on the 9th place in German, on the 10th place in French, Polish, on the 12th place in Arabic, on the 13th place in Chinese, on the 14th place in Italian, on the 16th place in Russian and on the 40th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
8th place – School of Athens
School of Athens – painting by Raphael, in April 2020 the painting was on the 4th place in German, Italian, Portuguese, on the 6th place in Arabic, Chinese, on the 9th place in Spanish, on the 11th place in English, on the 16th place in Japanese, on the 17th place in French, on the 28th place in Polish and on the 33rd place in Russian Wikipedia.
9th place – The Birth of Venus
The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli, in April 2020 the painting was on the 6th place in Spanish, on the 8th place in Italian, on the 9th place in French, Japanese, Portuguese, on the 10th place in English, on the 11th place in German, Chinese, on the 12th place in Polish, on the 28th place in Arabic and on the 30th place in Russian Wikipedia.
10th place – Liberty Leading the People
Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix, in April 2020 the painting was on the 2nd place in French, on the 7th place in Japanese, on the 8th place in Portuguese, Chinese, on the 10th place in Spanish, on the 12th place in Italian, on the 16th place in German, on the 17th place in Arabic, on the 19th place in English, on the 32nd place in Polish and on the 40th place in Russian Wikipedia.
11th place – The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights – Medieval triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, in April 2020 the painting was on the 8th place in Spanish, on the 9th place in English, on the 14th place in German, on the 17th place in Portuguese, on the 25th place in Arabic, on the 26th place in French, on the 30th place in Chinese, on the 32nd place in Russian, on the 33rd place in Japanese, Polish and on the 40th place in Italian Wikipedia.
12th place – Las Meninas
Las Meninas – painting by Diego Velazquez, in April 2020 the painting was on the 4th place in Spanish, on the 10th place in Japanese, on the 12th place in French, Portuguese, on the 16th place in English, on the 24th place in German, on the 25th place in Chinese, on the 34th place in Arabic, on the 35th place in Polish, on the 41st place in Russian and on the 77th place in Italian Wikipedia.
13th place – Sistine Chapel ceiling
Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, in April 2020 the painting was on the 8th place in French, on the 10th place in Portuguese, on the 14th place in English, Spanish, on the 18th place in Italian, Chinese, on the 21st place in Arabic, on the 24th place in Russian and on the 35th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
14th place – The Raft of the Medusa
The Raft of the Medusa – painting by Théodore Géricault, in April 2020 the painting was on the 5th place in French, on the 19th place in Italian, on the 20th place in Arabic, Spanish, on the 22nd place in English, on the 25th place in German, Japanese, on the 26th place in Portuguese, on the 32nd place in Chinese, on the 48th place in Polish and on the 53rd place in Russian Wikipedia.
15th place – Primavera
Primavera – tempera panel painting by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, in April 2020 the painting was on the 6th place in Italian, on the 15th place in Spanish, on the 20th place in German, on the 21st place in Portuguese, on the 23rd place in Japanese, on the 27th place in French, on the 30th place in English, Polish, on the 42nd place in Russian and on the 55th place in Chinese Wikipedia.
16th place – Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog – oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich, in April 2020 the painting was on the 6th place in German, on the 10th place in Italian, on the 14th place in French, on the 16th place in Spanish, on the 21st place in English, on the 31st place in Arabic, Polish, on the 35th place in Portuguese, on the 70th place in Chinese, on the 123rd place in Russian and on the 194th place in Japanese Wikipedia.
17th place – Saturn Devouring His Sn
Saturn Devouring His Sn – painting by Goya, in April 2020 the painting was on the 11th place in Japanese, on the 12th place in English, on the 13th place in Spanish, on the 28th place in Portuguese, on the 35th place in Arabic, on the 38th place in Russian, on the 54th place in French, Chinese, on the 90th place in Polish and on the 108th place in Italian Wikipedia.
18th place – The Last Judgment
The Last Judgment – fresco by Michelangelo, in April 2020 the painting was on the 7th place in Italian, on the 16th place in Arabic, Chinese, on the 17th place in Spanish, on the 20th place in Japanese, on the 21st place in Polish, on the 24th place in English, on the 30th place in Portuguese, on the 32nd place in French and on the 46th place in Russian Wikipedia.
19th place – Lady with an Ermine
Lady with an Ermine – painting by Leonardo da Vinci, in April 2020 the painting was on the 3rd place in Polish, on the 9th place in Italian, on the 14th place in Chinese, on the 21st place in Japanese, on the 27th place in Spanish, on the 29th place in English, on the 30th place in German, on the 36th place in French, on the 39th place in Portuguese, Russian and on the 44th place in Arabic Wikipedia.
20th place – American Gothic
American Gothic – painting by Grant Wood, in April 2020 the painting was on the 8th place in English, on the 19th place in French, on the 35th place in German, on the 52nd place in Russian, on the 56th place in Spanish, on the 60th place in Chinese, on the 64th place in Portuguese, on the 108th place in Polish, on the 117th place in Japanese and on the 214th place in Italian Wikipedia.
The most popular paintings in Arabic Wikipedia
- The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- history of Poland in the Early Modern era – aspect of history (1569–1795)
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- A Sparrowhawk – painting by Jacopo de’ Barbari
- The Potato Eaters – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Kur’an Tilaveti / Reciting the Quran – painting by Osman Hamdi Bey
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- Salvator Mundi – painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Crying Boy – mass-produced print of painting by Bruno Amadio
- Poppy Flowers – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Last Judgment – fresco by Michelangelo
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- The Death of Socrates – painting by Jacques-Louis David, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Old Guitarist – painting by Pablo Picasso
- The Raft of the Medusa – painting by Théodore Géricault
The most popular paintings in Chinese Wikipedia
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Along the River During the Qingming Festival – painting attributed to Zhang Zeduan
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- The Gleaners – painting by Jean-François Millet
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains – painting by Huang Gongwang
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- Impression, Sunrise – painting by Claude Monet
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- Lady with an Ermine – painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Night Watch – painting by Rembrandt
- The Last Judgment – fresco by Michelangelo
- A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – painting by Georges Seurat
- Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
- Les Demoiselles d’Avignon – painting by Pablo Picasso
- The Milkmaid – 1658 painting by Johannes Vermeer
The most popular paintings in English Wikipedia
- The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- American Gothic – painting by Grant Wood
- The Garden of Earthly Delights – Medieval triptych by Hieronymus Bosch
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- Saturn Devouring His Sn – painting by Goya
- Salvator Mundi – painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
- Nighthawks – 1942 oil on canvas painting by Edward Hopper
- Las Meninas – painting by Diego Velazquez
- The Treachery of Images – painting by René Magritte depicting a smoking pipe
- The Son of Man – painting by René Magritte
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – painting by Georges Seurat
The most popular paintings in French Wikipedia
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Raft of the Medusa – painting by Théodore Géricault
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- The Third of May 1808 – painting by Francisco de Goya
- Las Meninas – painting by Diego Velazquez
- The Milkmaid – 1658 painting by Johannes Vermeer
- Wanderer above the Sea of Fog – oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich
- The Coronation of Napoleon – painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David
- Arnolfini Portrait – 1434 painting by Jan van Eyck
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- Luncheon on the Grass – painting by Édouard Manet
- American Gothic – painting by Grant Wood
- The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh
The most popular paintings in German Wikipedia
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I – painting by Gustav Klimt
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- Sistine Madonna – painting by Raphael
- Wanderer above the Sea of Fog – oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- Young Hare – watercolor by Albrecht Dürer
- The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Garden of Earthly Delights – Medieval triptych by Hieronymus Bosch
- The Kiss – painting by Gustav Klimt
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- Les Demoiselles d’Avignon – painting by Pablo Picasso
- Salvator Mundi – painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Night Watch – painting by Rembrandt
- Primavera – tempera panel painting by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli
The most popular paintings in Italian Wikipedia
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Primavera – tempera panel painting by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli
- The Last Judgment – fresco by Michelangelo
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- Lady with an Ermine – painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Wanderer above the Sea of Fog – oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich
- The Kiss – painting by Francesco Hayez
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- The Fourth Estate – picture painted by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo in 1901
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- The Marriage of the Virgin – painting by Raphael
- Virgin of the Rocks – painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Louvre, Paris
- The Kiss – painting by Gustav Klimt
- Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
- The Raft of the Medusa – painting by Théodore Géricault
- Les Demoiselles d’Avignon – painting by Pablo Picasso
The most popular paintings in Japanese Wikipedia
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga – emakimono
- Ophelia – painting by John Everett Millais
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- Hōryū-ji Kondō Hekiga
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- Las Meninas – painting by Diego Velazquez
- Saturn Devouring His Sn – painting by Goya
- Ponchi-e – A kind of comical ukiyoe painting after Charles Wirgman’s “Japan Punch”.
- The Milkmaid – 1658 painting by Johannes Vermeer
- Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? – painting by Paul Gauguin
- The Night Watch – painting by Rembrandt
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- The Triumph of Death – painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- The Gleaners – painting by Jean-François Millet
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Last Judgment – fresco by Michelangelo
The most popular paintings in Polish Wikipedia
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Constitution of May 3, 1791 – painting by Jan Matejko
- Lady with an Ermine – painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Black Madonna of Częstochowa – icon of the Virgin Mary
- Rejtan – painting by Jan Matejko
- Racławice Panorama – monumental cycloramic painting depicting the Battle of Racławice
- Battle of Grunwald – painting by Jan Matejko
- Manoppello Image – religious image stored in a church in the village of Manoppello, Italy
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- Stańczyk – painting by Jan Matejko
- Jewess with Oranges – painting by Aleksander Gierymski
- Landscape with the Fall of Icarus – painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- Impression, Sunrise – painting by Claude Monet
- Storks. – painting by Józef Marian Chełmoński
- The Calling of St Matthew – painting by Caravaggio
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
The most popular paintings in Portuguese Wikipedia
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Abaporu – painting by Tarsila do Amaral
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
- The First Mass in Brazil
- Las Meninas – painting by Diego Velazquez
- The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Independence or Death – painting by Pedro Américo
- The Death of Socrates – painting by Jacques-Louis David, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Garden of Earthly Delights – Medieval triptych by Hieronymus Bosch
- Les Demoiselles d’Avignon – painting by Pablo Picasso
- The Death of Marat – painting of Jean-Paul Marat lying dead in his bathtub by Jacques-Louis David in 1793
- Landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in Porto Seguro, in 1500 – Oscar Pereira da Silva’s painting
The most popular paintings in Russian Wikipedia
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Black Square (1915) – painting by Kazimir Malevich
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- L’Origine du monde – oil-on-canvas painted by Gustave Courbet
- Morning in a Pine Forest – painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky
- Girl with peaches – painting by Valentin Serov
- The Last Day of Pompeii – canvas painted by Russian artist Karl Briullov in 1830-33
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Spring. High water – painting by Isaac Levitan
- Trinity – 15th century Russian Christian icon
- Rooks have Returned – painting by Alexei Savrasov
- Sistine Madonna – painting by Raphael
- The Return of the Prodigal Son – painting by Rembrandt
- Boyarina Morozova – painting by Vasily Surikov
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- Heroes – painting by Viktor Vasnetsov
- The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen – 1884 stolen painting by Vincent van Gogh
- Theotokos of Vladimir – medieval Byzantine icon
- Daughter of Soviet Kirgizia – painting by Semyon Afanasyevich Chuikov
The most popular paintings in Spanish Wikipedia
- Mona Lisa – oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Guernica – oil painting by Pablo Picasso
- The Last Supper – mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci
- Las Meninas – painting by Diego Velazquez
- The Starry Night – painting by Vincent van Gogh
- The Birth of Venus – painting by Sandro Botticelli
- The Creation of Adam – fresco painting by Michelangelo
- The Garden of Earthly Delights – Medieval triptych by Hieronymus Bosch
- School of Athens – painting by Raphael
- Liberty Leading the People – painting by Eugène Delacroix
- Girl with a Pearl Earring – 1665 painting by Johannes Vermeer, in the collection of the Mauritshuis
- The Third of May 1808 – painting by Francisco de Goya
- Saturn Devouring His Sn – painting by Goya
- Sistine Chapel ceiling – painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
- Primavera – tempera panel painting by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli
- Wanderer above the Sea of Fog – oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich
- The Last Judgment – fresco by Michelangelo
- Arnolfini Portrait – 1434 painting by Jan van Eyck
- The Kiss – painting by Gustav Klimt
- The Raft of the Medusa – painting by Théodore Géricault
Die beliebtesten paintings der anderen Monate sind auf der Website verfügbar: https://wikirank.net/top/painting