A General History of the Arts

Pyotr Petrovich Gnedich (1855–1925) is a famous dramatist, writer, translator, and art historian.

His “General History of the Arts” was the first in Russia to attempt to collect, systematize, and analyze the world history of art from the earliest times to the end of the 19th century. Almost immediately, the book became a sensation—and it has been successfully reissued for more than a hundred years, never losing its relevance thanks to the author’s extensive analysis of ancient Greek and Roman art, Byzantine art, Russian art up to the 18th century, the Renaissance, European painting schools of the 17th–19th centuries, and the decorative and applied arts.

The outstanding volume of works analyzed by the author and the broad time span make this book indispensable for everyone studying art.

Gnedich himself said about his work: “This is the first attempt to give, in Russian, in a lively and concise form, a picture of the general course of development of the arts from the earliest times to our own day…” Pyotr Gnedich became the founder of art history studies in Russia, and “General History of the Arts” became his main work.