What is beauty? In History of Beauty, Umberto Eco, one of Italy’s finest contemporary thinkers, delves into the nature, meaning, and history of the idea of beauty in Western culture. This groundbreaking work is lavishly illustrated with abundant examples of sublime painting and sculpture.

Eco explores how every historical era has had its own ideas about eye-appeal and beauty. The book is a profound philosophical journey, examining the intersection of standards of beauty with Christian belief, notions of the Sublime, and the philosophies of Kant and Hegel.

With more than 300 illustrations, this book traces the history of Western art as it relates to beauty, covering themes like the mathematics of ideal proportions, the representation of ugliness, and the fascination with the exotic.