Examines how art influences understanding of history, looking at the depiction of specific episodes, from the proclamation of the Code of Hammurabi to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Tells the stories behind the people and events depicted in some of the world's most famous works of art, and features 199 color, and fifty-five black-and-white illustrations.
Explains, with photographs of well-known paintings, the meaning of design, pattern, composition, space, perspective, light and shade, movement, sfumato, and many other concepts.
Profiles the life and works of Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo, and describes some of his greatest masterpieces including the "Pieta, " "Moses, " and the statue of David, as well as his ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
Traces the development of European painting from the late 1200's through World War I by examining the lives and works of such artists as Giotto, Delacroix, Gauguin, and Picasso.
