Part of a four volume set of books which focus on and analyse the art of the Renaissance. This volume deals with some of the most fundamental questions of style, patronage, working methods, taste and theories of art during this period.

Art and Illusion is a classic study of image-making. It seeks to answer a simple question: why is there such a thing as style? The question may be simple but there is no easy answer, and Professor Gombrich's wide-ranging exploration of the history and psychology of pictorial representation leads him into many important areas. He examines, questions and re-evaluates old and new ideas on the imitation of nature, the function of tradition, the problem of abstraction, the validity of perspective and the interpretation of expression, all of which reveal that pictorial representation is far from...