The Art of the Italian Renaissance Author:Wolfflin, Heinrich Here is a great book on art that can be read, not simply a book of pictures. It is the classic work on the art of the High Renaissance....Out of the confrontation of broad formal harmonies and details of organization emerge the distincitve qualities, the essence and ideals of a great age in art.
The classic text that is a glorious example of Wolfflin's compare/contrast method of picture analysis - a method that interprets the aims, assumptions and achievements of the great masters. This has withstood the test of time and trends.