Claim profile
1600–1699

The 17th century

Whose working lives fell in the 17th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 17th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇳🇱 Netherlands🇪🇸 Spain🇮🇹 Italy🇸🇪 Sweden🇨🇳 China
FieldAllWritersPoliticiansHistorical FiguresArtistsAcademicsScientistsMusiciansReligious FiguresActorsModels
  1. 1CaravaggioCaravaggio1571–1610 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  2. 2Gian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini1598–1680 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists13 decades
  3. 3Artemisia GentileschiArtemisia Gentileschi1593–1653 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists18 decades
  4. 4Guido ReniGuido Reni1575–1642 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  5. 5GuercinoGuercino1591–1666 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  6. 6Pietro da CortonaPietro da Cortona1596–1669 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  7. 7Salvator RosaSalvator Rosa1615–1673 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  8. 8Elisabetta SiraniElisabetta Sirani1638–1665 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists21 decades
  9. 9Giovanni LanfrancoGiovanni Lanfranco1582–1647 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  10. 10Giovanni BaglioneGiovanni Baglione1566–1643 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists14 decades
  11. 11Giovanni Pietro BelloriGiovanni Pietro Bellori1613–1696 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists4 decades
  12. 12Giovanni Battista CrespiGiovanni Battista Crespi1573–1632 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists6 decades
  13. 13Vincenzo CarducciVincenzo Carducci1576–1638 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists3 decades
  14. 14Daniele CrespiDaniele Crespi1598–1630 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0 decades
  15. 15Paolo de MatteisPaolo de Matteis1662–1728 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists6 decades
  16. 16Pietro TaccaPietro Tacca1577–1640 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists22 decades
  17. 17Ginevra CantofoliGinevra Cantofoli1618–1672 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists2 decades
  18. 18Giovanni Francesco RomanelliGiovanni Francesco Romanelli1610–1662 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists4 decades
  19. 19Sisto BadalocchioSisto Badalocchio1585–1647 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists10 decades
  20. 20Giovanni Francesco GrimaldiGiovanni Francesco Grimaldi1606–1680 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists4 decades
  21. 21Giacinto GimignaniGiacinto Gimignani1606–1680 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists7 decades
  22. 22Giovanni Antonio FumianiGiovanni Antonio Fumiani1645–1710 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  23. 23Luigi GarziLuigi Garzi1638–1721 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists16 decades
  24. 24Pietro PaoliniPietro Paolini1603–1681 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  25. 25Giacomo del PòGiacomo del Pò1652–1726 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists6 decades
  26. 26Giovanni Battista CrescenziGiovanni Battista Crescenzi1577–1635 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  27. 27GBGiovanni Battista Passeri1610–1679 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists6 decades
  28. 28Antonio FranchiAntonio Franchi1638–1709 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  29. 29Margherita CaffiMargherita Caffi1648–1710 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  30. 30Agostino MitelliAgostino Mitelli1609–1660 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  31. 31GGGiovanni Giacomo de Rossi1627–1691 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  32. 32Massimiliano Soldani BenziMassimiliano Soldani Benzi1656–1740 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  33. 33Luigi Pellegrini ScaramucciaLuigi Pellegrini Scaramuccia1616–1680 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  34. 34Francesco BrizioFrancesco Brizio1574–1623 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  35. 35Domenico Maria MuratoriDomenico Maria Muratori1661–1742 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  36. 36Antonio GherardiAntonio Gherardi1638–1702 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  37. 37Ferdinando TaccaFerdinando Tacca1619–1686 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  38. 38Filippo GagliardiFilippo Gagliardi1606–1659 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  39. 39PMPier Maria Baldi1630–1686 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  40. 40Sebastiano FolliSebastiano Folli1568–1621 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—
  41. 41Giovan Domenico VinacciaGiovan Domenico Vinaccia1625–1695 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artistsnot measured—

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.