Spirited Prospect

<p><em>Spirited Prospect: A Portable History of Western Art from the Paleolithic to the Modern Era</em> is a lively scholarly survey of the great artists works and movements that make up the history of Western art.<br /><br />Within the text important questions are addressed: What is art and who is an artist? What is the West and what is the Canon? Is the Western Canon closed or exclusionary? Why is it more important than ever for individuals to engage and understand it?<br /><br />Readers are escorted on a concise chronological tour of Western visual culture beginning with the first art produced before written history. They learn about the great ancient cultures of Egypt Mesopotamia Greece and Italy; the advent of Christianity and its manifestations in Byzantine Medieval Renaissance and Baroque art; and the fragmentation of old traditions and the proliferation of new artistic choices that characterize the Enlightenment and the Modern Era.<br /><br />The revised second edition features improved formatting juxtaposition sizing and spacing of images throughout.<br /><br /><em>Spirited Prospect</em> is an ideal textbook for introductory courses in the history of art as well as courses in studio art and Western civilization at all levels.</p><p><strong>David D. Nolta</strong> holds a Ph.D. in the history of art from Yale University. Dr. Nolta is a professor and the chair of the History of Art Department at MassArt. He has won many awards including Fulbright and Kress fellowships and residencies at The Huntington Library and Harvard University.</p><p><strong>Charles A. Stigliano</strong> holds an M.F.A. in sculpture from The University of North Carolina. He is a professor in the Fine Arts 3D Department at MassArt. Professor Stigliano has exhibited a range of works from marionettes to monumental figure sculptures at venues across the U.S. and his work can be found in numerous public and private collections.</p>