Internationally renowned art historian Sister Wendy Beckett brings her knowledge, her deep love of art, and her luminous insights to this book, making a difficult subject accessible to newcomers and newly stimulating to all. More than 450 masterpieces- all faithfully reproduced in superb full color- chronicle the developments and movements in painting over the past 800 years, from Gothic to Renaissance, Romanticism to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism to Modernism. Each movement is introduced by visual timelines that provide an instant overview of the important artists and paintings of that era. Comprehensive, highly visual, and filled with Sister Wendy's enlightening observations, it offers understanding and renewed appreciation of this great art form.