1915. By means of a series of comparisons of paintings and painters from Cimabue to Monet, with historical and biographical summaries and appreciations of the painters' motives and methods. A study of fifty-six artists, which are pivotal ones by reason of what they have accomplished or of their influence upon others. The selection is not intended as an attempt to pick out the most famous names in painting, Caffin's real aim is to unfold the gradual progress of the art, to show how various motives have from time to time influenced artists, and how the scene of vital progress has shifted from country to country. Some of the artists profiled in this volume include: Fra Angelico; Botticelli; Raphael; Correggio; Van Dyck; Rembrandt; Watteau; Reynolds; Rousseau; Breton; Manet; Whistler; and Monet.