The Discovery of Pictorial Composition: Theories of Visual Order in Painting, 1400-1800

In this book, Puttfarken traces the changing nature of attitudes towards composition from the early Renaissance to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Using examples as diverse as Giotto, Rembrandt and Poussin, he reveals how artists 'put together' the various elements of their pictures to create an harmonious whole - and how the practice varied from place to place and from era to era (Leonardo's Last Supper, for example, is conceived in a totally different way from, say, Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus, in which the figures are no longer grouped along the side of the table, facing out towards the spectator, but are grouped, more naturalistically, around the table, some with their backs to us). He examines the significance of the use of frames, perspective, size and location, and shows how analysis of these became incorporated into general theories of art. This stimulating book offers a major contribution to studies in art theory, and will become essential reading for all students and scholars of that field.

Thomas Puttfarken is professor of the history and theory of art at the University of Essex, England. He was the author of Roger de Piles's Theory of Art, published by Yale University Press.