An artist"s workshop is both a mental and an artistic space in which the artist"s idea is carved in marble, laid down in pigments, or engraved in copper. The workshop is also a classroom in which the trade of the painter, sculptor, or cabinetmaker is passed on by example and where companions or apprentices seek to exceed the master. Finally, it is a salon where reputations are forged, sometimes echoed or even undermined by remarkable imitators or passionate amateurs. Europe itself figures throughout the centuries as a large workshop, or rather like a suite of workshops, each housing artists with specific practices and particular styles, and each creating opportunities for collaboration. Long before its emergence as a political entity, Europe was distinguished by its intense traffic in goods and people. Artists, art-lovers, and rich patrons made arduous journeys not only by road but also by river to far-flung locales as they sought to satisfy their appetite for beauty. This is the...