This book takes a refreshingly different approach to its subject. Although the treatment is chronological, each of the chapters explores one of ten stages in the development of Western art through a detailed discussion of fifteen key works, which range from well-known masterpieces such as Michelangelo"s Sistine Chapel or Manet"s Dejeuner sur l"Herbe to neglected gems which are known only to specialists but which speak volumes about the artists and their times. Each chapter begins with an overview of the period which is followed by self contained essays on each work, mostly paintings, but including some sculptures. The contributors" brief has been to explain the works as exemplars of their period in both aesthetic and social terms and, in so doing, to show how they fit into the broader context of the Western artistic canon. Формат: 23 см х 28,5 см.