Description
Book SynopsisA concise, reader-friendly illustrated survey of Western art and architecture from prehistory to the present day. Acknowledging how architecture, painting, sculpture and the decorative arts reflect the culture and society of their time, this latest addition to the Art Essentials series invites the reader to experience and appreciate the entirety of Western art from prehistory to today. Focusing on the âhistoryâ in art history, each of the twelve chapters opens with a question to ponder, followed by a summary of the major historical developments of the period, touching on social structure, political organization, migration, race, religious beliefs, scientific advances and customs. An exploration of these themes in the visual arts reveals how architecture, sculpture and painting simultaneously shape, reflect, and document the culture of the time and place they were created. A secondary focus explores the constantly evolving aesthetic preferences that swing between naturalism
Trade Review'As well as providing perceptive comments on key individual works of art and architecture, Janetta Rebold Benton gives us a very precise understanding of their historical contexts' - Richard Cork
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Part One Prehistoric through ancient Roman art Chapter 1. Antecedents of the Western Tradition: Prehistoric, Mesopotamian and Egyptian art
Chapter 2. Aegean and Greek art
Chapter 3. Etruscan and Roman art
Part Two Early Christian through medieval art Chapter 4. Early Christian and Byzantine art
Chapter 5. Early Medieval and Romanesque art
Chapter 6. Gothic art
Part Three Renaissance through Neoclassical art Chapter 7. Renaissance and Mannerist art
Chapter 8. 17th-century Baroque art
Chapter 9. 18th-century Rococo and Neoclassical art
Part Four Romanticism to today Chapter 10. Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
Chapter 11. Earlier 20th-century art
Chapter 12. Later 20th- & early 21st-century art
