ABSTRACT
IN THE preface to this book, Hugh Trevor-Roper describes himself as a ‘plain historian’ but one who believes that art, like literature, is an expression of ideas and therefore an inseparable part of history. ‘History which ignores art or literature is jejune history, just as a society without art or literature is a jejune society, and, conversely, art and literature which are studied in detachment from history are only half understood.’ The words seem obviously true, though some literary and art critics are determined, on principle, to operate in a historical vacuum. The refreshing quality of Professor Trevor-Roper's book is that he makes his way through great periods of European art in the character of an immensely intelligent historian who can draw on a detailed range of information of a kind usually classed as ‘art history’ which he deploys as an integral part of history, or history of ideas.
