The history of modern painting
A history of painting from the late eighteenth century onward, written by art critic Richard Muther with translation and additional material by several British editors, published in London in 1895 for art students and general readers of art history. The plates are reproduced black-and-white engravings and halftones of individual canvases, showing how period paintings were composed, with figures staged in interiors and dramatic tableaux. A designer can take from them the staging of figures in doorways and candlelit rooms, the crowded group composition of a banquet scene, and the tight, dark tonal massing typical of historical engraving.
