Presenting a tightly interwoven sequence of historical figures, master artists, and masterpieces, this book takes the reader through two centuries of European art and culture, from the world of the late Gothic aristocratic courts to the new political, religious and intellectual situation in Europe on the threshold of the Baroque. Examines the wondrous works of architecture, sculpture, painting, and the applied arts in most of the nations of Europe, spanning the 15th and 16th centuries.