Art is a mirror of the time and of the culture in which it is created. It is subject to constant change as it follows an urge towards new and previously undiscovered areas across the centuries, inventing new stylistic forms, and opening up new perspectives. This book assembles 100 paintings that revolutionized art by transcending boundaries to show that which had never been seen before. From Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel and Raphael’s Sistine Madonna to Grant Wood’s American Gothic, Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans and Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, it presents a diverse succession of pictures including famous classics and rare gems. Knowledgeable texts explain the backgrounds and special aspects of each work as well as its ranking in the canon of art history. With compact artists’ biographies, illuminating quotations by their contemporaries, opulent illustrations, and brilliant photos showing many details, the book makes 1,500 years of art history come amazingly alive.