By Michel Laclotte, Venceslas Kruta, Alain Erlande-Brandenburg, Claude Mignot, John Goodman, Michael Marrinan, Gary Tinterow, Jeffrey Weiss, Malcolm Gee and Françoise Levaillant.  Many expressions of the arts—painting, sculpture, architecture, design, photography, film, fashion, theater and opera—have played a role in creating the enduring spirit of the city of Paris. In fact, the transition of Paris from a small, primitive village through its days of glory as a medieval and Renaissance center for art and scholarship, to its most recent achievements as one of the most thoroughly pleasurable of all modern cities has been largely determined by the aesthetic and economic power of the arts.  

In nine insightful essays, an impressive range of authors, including Gary Tinterow, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Engelhard Curator of 19th-century European Painting, chronicle the history of the visual arts in Paris, tracing their evolution and that of the social systems that supported them, such as royal and private patronage, the Académie and the salons. A lavish selection of photographs complements the engaging, informative commentary on an impressive array of works of art that includes both much-loved masterpieces and little-known gems.

1,528 pages, 1,500 illustrations (1,157 in color), 11 in. x 13 in. Hardcover; clothbound. Two-volume set, with slipcase.

www.metmuseum.org