Art - Methods & Issues: About this guide

Approaches to the history of art are probably more varied and more debated than in any other branch of history, and a study of different historical approaches has become an increasingly important component of many courses. This critical anthology brings together the work of 27 influential art historians and writers from the Renaissance to the present day; key texts have been chosen in which the authors reflect on the nature of their subject and on their own methods of inquiry. Each text is accompanied by a commentary that places it in context and discusses the issues it raises. Included are texts by Vasari, Winckelmann, Burckhardt, Wölfflin, Panofsky, Gombrich and Pollock, among others.

Designed with the beginning student in mind, _Critical Terms_ clarifies terminology and provides context for the major theoretical approaches in art history. Each essay explains and comments on a single term, discussing the issues the term raises and then demonstrating its use to interpret a specific work of art.