Landscape is probably the most popular type of painting, but anyone who has ever been disappointed by vacation photographs knows how difficult it is to turn a view into a picture. This book shows how artists in past centuries translated outdoor space...

For two decades, The National Gallery Companion Guide has introduced art lovers to one of the richest collections of Western European paintings in the world, including famous works by the greatest painters – Piero della Francesca, Titian, Rembrandt,...

What is still life? We are familiar with the objects portrayed but have difficulty explaining the essence of this popular art form. Erika Langmuir examines the special fascination of still life, and what distinguishes it from other categories of pain...

Formerly part of the popular "Pocket Guides" series, "Allegory" is published in a new edition as "A Closer Look", with a wealth of beautiful reproductions. This informative guide helps readers understand the language of allegory within Western painti...

Formerly part of the popular "Pocket Guides" series, "Angels" is published in a new edition as "A Closer Look", with a wealth of beautiful reproductions. This informative guide helps readers identify angels and their significance in a painting – be i...

Drawing on the National Gallery's comprehensive collection of religious images, "A Closer Look: Saints" explains the importance of saints and their role in the history of European painting. Erika Langmuir underlines the fundamental importance of sai...

The images of children that abound in Western art do not simply mirror reality; they are imaginative constructs, representing childhood as a special stage of human life, or emblematic of the human condition itself. In a compelling book ranging widely...