Six Centuries of Painting

Randall Davies traces European painting from the early Italian schools to the artistic disputes of the nineteenth century. He arranges his history by country and school, treating Tuscan and Venetian painters separately before moving through Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, German, French and English traditions. The introduction links the growth of panel painting to church decoration and describes portraiture's increasing place in everyday life.

Close discussion of individual pictures gives these broad divisions a more personal scale. In the section on Frans Hals, Davies considers the natural bearing of portrait subjects and the wide circulation of copies of a scene showing a street musician and delighted children. He also argues that ordinary viewers can judge pictures and explain their preferences. For readers interested in how to look at older art, the book combines a historical framework with observations about expression, public taste and the appeal of familiar subjects.