+/- 5 BC: Quintus Pedius, Painter (IT)

Quintus Pedius (died about 13) was a Roman painter and the first deaf person in recorded history known by name. He is the first recorded deaf painter and his education is the first recorded education of a deaf child. All that is known about him today is contained in a single passage of the Natural History by the Roman author Pliny the Elder.

1454 - 1513: Pinturicchio, Painter (IT)

Bernardino di Betto, known also as Pintoricchio, was born between 1456 and 1460 in Perugia to a modest family of artisans. His real name was Betti Biagi, but he was often called Sordicchio, from his deafness and insignificant appearance, but Pinturicchio was his usual name.

1440 -1486: Cristoforo de Predis, Illuminator (IT)

Cristoforo de Predis (also called Cristoforo de Preda ) was an illuminator active in Milan between 1467 and 1486.

1465? -1548: Joanot de Pau (Joan Pau Guardiola), Painter (ES)

Joanot de Pau was an active painter in the Segarra, Solsonès and several Pyrenean regions. He is remembered, above all, for being born deaf-mute. 

1526 – 1579: Juan Fernandez Navarrete, Painter (ES)

Juan Fernandez de Navarrete was born in the beautiful town of Navarre, Spain near the mountain range of the Pyrenees. He was called El Mudo (the mute) since childhood. He lost his hearing at the age of three and never learned to talk.

Juan's amazing drawings skills became evident when he began communicating his needs by drawing them out with charcoal on paper. The young artist never allowed his disabilities to hamper his dreams or ambitions and allowed his art to become his voice.

1585-1634, Hendrick Avercamp, Painter (NL)

Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634) was one of the first Dutch landscape painters of the 17th century. He was deaf and mute and known as de Stomme van Kampen (“the mute of Kampen”).

He is especially noted for his winter landscapes of his homeland. His landscapes are characterized by high horizons, bright clear colors, and tree branches darkly drawn against the snow or the sky. His paintings are lively and descriptive, with evidence of solid drawing skills that made him an ideal recorder of his contemporary life.

1615 – 1678: Wolfgang Heimbach, Painter (DE)

Wolfgang Heimbach (1615–1678) was a North German Baroque painter, mostly active in Denmark. He was deaf-mute but compensated by being able to read and write several languages. 

(Wolfgang Heimbach, self-portrait, 1666)

1625 - 1688/95: Johannes Thopas, Painter (NL)

Johannes Thopas (ca. 1626 – 1688/95), born deaf, was one of the few artists in the Golden Age who specialized in drawn portraiture. He was especially a virtuoso in lead marker on parchment.