Famous Painting Dimensions Chart: 12 Artworks Compared

Compare dimensions for the Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, Guernica, and nine other famous artworks in inches and centimeters with direct museum sources.

Published · 9 minute read

Museum-sourced dimensions

Famous painting sizes compared

Compare 12 well-known works using width × height. Every row names the support and links to the holding institution’s record.

Same-scale reference: the Mona Lisa is 53.4 × 79.4 cm, The Starry Night is 92.1 × 73.7 cm, and Guernica is 776.6 × 349.3 cm. Frames are excluded.

Measurement method: values are transcribed from the linked museum records, normalized to centimeters, and converted to inches at 2.54 cm per inch. “Small” through “Monumental” are comparison bands used on this page, not museum classifications.

Download the sourced CSV · Open the JSON dataset

Museum-sourced famous painting dimensions, shown width by height
Artwork Centimeters Inches Support Scale band Museum source Use ratio
The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dalí · 1931		 33 × 24.1 cm 13 × 9.5 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Small Museum of Modern Art Match shape
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Johannes Vermeer · c. 1665		 39 × 44.5 cm 15.4 × 17.5 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Small Mauritshuis Match shape
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci · 1503–1519		 53.4 × 79.4 cm 21 × 31.3 in Wood panel
Oil on poplar panel		 Medium Musée du Louvre
The Louvre record lists the panel at 0.794 m high by 0.534 m wide; accessory dimensions are excluded here. 		Match shape
American Gothic
Grant Wood · 1930		 65.3 × 78 cm 25.7 × 30.7 in Board
Oil on Beaver Board		 Medium Art Institute of Chicago Match shape
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh · 1889		 92.1 × 73.7 cm 36.3 × 29 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Medium Museum of Modern Art Match shape
The Scream
Edvard Munch · 1893		 73.5 × 91 cm 28.9 × 35.8 in Cardboard
Tempera and crayon on cardboard		 Medium National Museum of Norway Match shape
Sunflowers
Vincent van Gogh · 1888		 73 × 92.1 cm 28.7 × 36.3 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Medium National Gallery, London Match shape
Nighthawks
Edward Hopper · 1942		 152.4 × 84.1 cm 60 × 33.1 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Large Art Institute of Chicago Match shape
The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli · c. 1485		 278.5 × 172.5 cm 109.6 × 67.9 in Canvas
Tempera on canvas		 Large Uffizi Galleries Match shape
Las Meninas
Diego Velázquez · 1656		 279.1 × 320.3 cm 109.9 × 126.1 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Monumental Museo Nacional del Prado Match shape
The Night Watch
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1642		 453.5 × 379.5 cm 178.5 × 149.4 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Monumental Rijksmuseum Match shape
Guernica
Pablo Picasso · 1937		 776.6 × 349.3 cm 305.7 × 137.5 in Canvas
Oil on canvas		 Monumental Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Match shape

Source records checked July 23, 2026. Museum catalog measurements can change after conservation or remeasurement.

Famous artwork dimensions range from a work smaller than a sheet of office paper to canvases wider than a room. The comparison above uses the holding institutions’ current object records, converts every measurement to width × height, and keeps the support visible so a wood panel or cardboard work is not mislabeled as canvas.

How big is the Mona Lisa?

The Louvre’s current collection record lists the painted poplar panel at 53.4 cm wide × 79.4 cm high (about 21.0 × 31.3 inches), excluding the larger accessory dimensions in the same record. That makes the picture itself far smaller than its reputation—and smaller than many common poster reproductions.

This differs from the frequently repeated 77 × 53 cm figure. The chart uses the linked Louvre object record and explains the measurement note so readers can inspect the source rather than choose between unexplained numbers.

Famous artwork dimensions are not standard canvas sizes

“Painting size” can refer to two different things:

  • Artwork dimensions describe the physical support of a specific work. The museum record may list canvas, wood panel, board, or cardboard.
  • Standard canvas sizes describe commonly stocked artist supports such as 8×10, 16×20, 24×36, or 30×40 inches.

The Mona Lisa is oil on poplar panel, American Gothic is oil on Beaver Board, and the 1893 version of The Scream is tempera and crayon on cardboard. Treating all three as canvas dimensions would be inaccurate. Use the standard painting sizes chart when the goal is to compare common artist canvases, or open the interactive canvas size chart to filter formats.

Small, large, and monumental are comparison bands

The chart groups works by their longest edge so the scale labels remain consistent:

  • Small: longest edge under 60 cm
  • Medium: 60 cm to under 120 cm
  • Large: 120 cm to under 300 cm
  • Monumental: 300 cm or longer

These are working bands for this comparison, not classifications supplied by the museums. Area and dimensions are more informative than a label when planning wall space, transport, or viewing distance.

What the same-scale visual reveals

The Persistence of Memory is only 33 cm wide, while Guernica is 776.6 cm wide. At one linear scale, the smaller works almost disappear beside Picasso’s canvas. The chart therefore provides both a same-scale visual for the contrast and exact values for practical comparison.

Orientation matters too. The Starry Night is wider than it is tall, while the Mona Lisa is vertical. To reuse the proportion rather than the original physical size, open a row’s Match shape link in the aspect ratio calculator.

How the data was prepared

Each row records the title, artist, year, support, medium, dimensions, institution, source URL, and source-check date. Measurements are transcribed from the linked museum pages and normalized to width × height in centimeters. Inch values use the exact conversion of 2.54 centimeters per inch and round to one decimal place.

Museum catalog records can change after conservation or remeasurement. The direct source links and CSV export make later updates auditable. Frames are excluded unless a source provides no separate object measurement; none of the rows in this edition relies on a frame size.

Choosing a practical canvas from a famous ratio

A famous painting’s exact dimensions are rarely a standard retail format. Start with its proportion, then choose a stocked size with the same or a nearby ratio:

  1. Use Match shape beside the artwork.
  2. Compare the ranked standard canvas formats and crop estimate.
  3. Compare the chosen width with real wall measurements.
  4. Confirm the manufacturer’s nominal dimensions and canvas depth before ordering.

This separates inspiration from imitation: preserve the composition’s shape when useful, but choose a physical scale that fits the work, room, budget, and handling requirements.