History of Beauty and On Ugliness Boxed Set: Boxed Set Edition Hardcover – December 9, 2008

These two lovely designed books are an exciting transect on art history, following the changing ideas and concepts about Beauty. Plenty of graphical examples are provided in painting and sculpture, and also excerpts from literature and philosophy, illustrating almost each line of Eco's explanation. I found Eco at his best in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The second volume, On Ugliness, seems a little bit more sketchy than the previous one.

As a fine art practitioner with little knowledge, it was good resource to begin with. This book is one of those recommended resource for art practitioner. It is not complex writing and has clear structure based on the Art history. I read this in library first, my friends highly recommended it and I also thought it was worth buying.And for Amazon, never disappoint the delivery procedure. I received it within two weeks in Australia.

Eco's intelligent analysis supplements the great art pieces collected under one cover. Since it's the analysis, and not the reproductions, that are the focus of this work, the pictures are often too small to appreciate the detail. You will have to look online, buy another art book, or go to a museum if something catches your eye.

Fault in printing. Pages sewn together!

Great books! Got them as a present and I find these books interesting and beautifully made.