The Story of Art

    The Story of Art, one of the most famous and popular books on art ever written, has been a world bestseller for over four decades. Attracted by the simplicity and clarity of his writing, readers of all ages and back-grounds have found in Professor Gombrich a true master, who combines knowledge and wisdom with a unique gift for communicating his deep love of the subject.

    For the first time in many years the book has been completely redesigned. The illustrations, now in colour throughout, have all been improved and reoriginated, and include six fold-outs. The text has been revised and updated where appropriate, and a number of new artists have been incorporated. The bibliographies have been expanded and updated, and the maps and charts redrawn. The Story of Art has always been admired for two key qualities: it is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to handle. In these reaspects the new edition is true to its much-loved predecessors: the text runs as smoothly as ever, and the improved illustrations are always on the page where the reader needs them. In its new edition this classic work continues its triumphant progress for another generation and remains the title of first choice for all newcomers to art.

Ernst Gombrich

    Ernst Gombrich was one of the greatest and least conventional art historians of his age, achieving fame and distinction in three separate spheres: as a scholar, as a popularizer of art, and as a pioneer of the application of the psychology of perception to the study of art. His best-known book, The Story of Art - first published 50 years ago and now in its sixteenth edition - is one of the most influential books ever written about art. His books further include The Sense of Order (1979) and The Preference for the Primitive (2002), as well as a total of 11 volumes of collected essays and reviews.

    Gombrich was born in Vienna in 1909 and died in London in November 2001. He came to London in 1936 to work at the Warburg Institute, where he eventually became Director from 1959 until his retirement in 1976. He won numerous international honours, including a knighthood, the Order of Merit and the Goethe, Hegel and Erasmus prizes.

    Gifted with a powerful mind and prodigious memory, he was also an outstanding communicator, with a clear and forceful prose style. His works are models of good art-historical writing, and reflect his humanism and his deep and abiding concern with the standards and values of our cultural heritage.

The Story of Art

INTRODUCTION 

On art and artists 15 (24)

Strange Beginnings

Prehistoric and primitive peoples; Ancient 39 (16)

America

Art for Eternity

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Crete 55 (20)

The Great Awakening

Greece, seventh to fifth century BC 75 (24)

The Realm of Beauty

Greece and the Greek world, fourth century 99 (18)

BC to first century AD

World Conquerors

Romans, Buddhists, Jews and Christians, 117(16)

first to fourth century AD

A Parting of Ways

Rome and Byzantium, fifth to thirteenth 133(10)

century

Looking Eastwards

Islam, China, second to thirteenth century 143(14)

Western Art in the Melting Pot

Europe, sixth to eleventh century 157(14)

The Church Militant

The twelfth century 171(14)

The Church Triumphant

The thirteenth century 185(22)

Courtiers and Burghers

The fourteenth century 207(16)

The Conquest of Reality

The early fifteenth century 223(24)

Tradition and Innovation I

The later fifteenth century in Italy 247(22)

Tradition and Innovation II

The fifteenth century in the North 269(18)

Harmony Attained

Tuscany and Rome, early sixteenth century 287(38)

Light and Colour

Venice and northern Italy, early sixteenth 325(16)

century

The New Learning Spreads

Germany and the Netherlands, early 341(20)

sixteenth century

A Crisis of Art

Europe, later sixteenth century 361(26)

Vision and Visions

Catholic Europe, first half of the 387(26)

seventeenth century

The Mirror of Nature

Holland, seventeenth century 413(22)

Power and Glory I

Italy, later seventeenth and eighteenth 435(12)

centuries

Power and Glory II

France, Germany and Austria, late 447(10)

seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries

The Age of Reason

England and France, eighteenth century 457(18)

The Break in Tradition

England, America and France, late 475(24)

eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

Permanent Revolution

The nineteenth century 499(36)