Counsel for the afterlife : from the Papyrus of Ani, c. 1300 BC / Group portrait with empress : the Empress Theodora with her Retinue, c. 547 / Propaganda on cloth : the Bayeux Tapestry, after 1066 / "A garden inclosed in my spouse" : the little garden of paradise, c 14.10 / Palaces crumble but books remain : miniature for the month of January from the "Très riches Heures du Duc de Berry", c. 1415 / A deceptive idyll : February miniature from the "Très riches Heures du Duc de Berry", c. 1416 / An angel in the living room : the Mérode Triptych, c. 1422/1430 / An Italian in Bruges : the Arnolfini marriage, 1434 / Monument to a military leader : the battle of San Romano, c. 1435 / A saint with a practical turn of mind : St Nicholas of Bari, 1437 / May God help the chancellor : the virgin of Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, c. 1437 / A Christian artisan advertises his craft : St. Eligius, 1449 / The king's mistress posing as the virgin : the Melun Diptych, c. 1456 / A family sings its own praises : procession of the Magi, 1459 / A small saint in a vasty building : St. Jerome, 1460/1475 / The splendours of a small dynasty : Ludovico Gonzaga and his family, c. 1470 / An empire collapses, the painter retreats : the Portinari altar, c. 1475 / A grim male ballet : the martyrdom of St Sebastian, 1475 / A magnificent picture for a dubious moneychanger : the adoration of the Magi, c. 1475 / Hocus-pocus, inquisition and demons : the conjuror, after 1475 / Jason sails for the unknown shores : the ship of the Argonauts, c. 1480/1490 / The sinner and the eccentric : the ship of fools, 1480/1516 / A cart trundles towards damnation : the Haywain, between 1485 and 1490 / Fairest daughter of heaven and waves : the birth of Venus, c. 1486 / A message from the world of alchemy : the death of Procris, c. 1500 / How Bellini imagined a city : St Mark preaching at Alexandria, 1504-1507 / The man, the naked and the bolt of lightning : the tempest, c. 1507 / Heaven's gates are already opened to receive the bride : the martyrdom of St Catherine, c. 1508 / In praise of lies and deceit : Penelope and the suitors, 1509

(v. 1. cont.) Strange quartet : the three stages of life, with death, c. 1510 / The music of the spheres on earthly instruments : the nativity panels from the Isenheim Altar, 1512/1516 / When wings no longer soar : Melencholia I, 1514 / Composure in the face of misfortune : the fire in the Borgo, 1514-1517 / The goddess with the mercenary's hat : the judgement [sic] of Paris, 1516/1528 / The femme fatale charms the devout viewer : the execution of John the Baptist, c. 1517 / The battle to end all battles : the battle of Issus, 1529 / Sodom burns, while those who have escaped celebrate : Lot and his daughters, c. 1530 / A foreign merchant in his office : portrait of the merchant Georg Gisze, 1532 / Careers in the kings' service : the ambassadors, 1533 / From the canopy of heaven to a four-poster bed : Venus of Urbino, c. 1538 / In the end the artist, too, was cheated : Pope Paul III and his grandsons, 1545 / The miracle in the water : the fountain of youth, 1546 / A hero takes a dip : Icarus, 1558 / The Lord sits at the table of lords : the marriage at Cana, 1562/63 / A village in winter : the census at Bethlehem, 1566 / The bar is full, time for a wedding! : peasant wedding feast, c. 1567 / Aspirations to immortality : the origin of the Milky Way, c. 1580 / A painter discovers life in the raw : the butcher's shop, c. 1583 / A woman thwarts Spain's pride : Armada portrait of Elizabeth I, c. 1590 / Tyrannicide by tender hand : Judith and Holofernes, c, 1599 / Two cool beauties in the tub : Gabrielle d'Estrées and one of her sisters, 1600 / A hero dies upright : the dying Seneca, 1611/1615 / Courtly delight in the vagrant life : the musicians' quarrel, 1620/1630 / Not the prodigal son : Jovial company, 1622 / A royal match : Henri IV receives the portrait of Maria de' Medici, 1622/1625 / Bad company : the sharper, c. 1630 / Double-dealing hands and eyes : the fortune teller, after 1630 / Surgeons lay the human being bare : the anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632 / Appendix.

Grateful for the gift of sensuous pleasure : the love garden, c. 1632-1634 / The victor honours a defeated enemy : the surrender of Breda, 1635 / The writing on the wall : Belshazzar's feast, c. 1635 / A Frenchman in Rome : the rape of the Sabine women, 1637/1639 / Tho' our wealthy days be done, here's to a life of luxury : the king drinks, 1640-1645 / Parading for Amsterdam : the night watch, 1642 / A nude for the king : Venus at her mirror, c. 1646 / A rich man sitting in the street : the Burgher of Delft and his daughter, 1655 / The end of the Habsburgs in Madrid : las Meninas, 1656 / A careerist bathes in the sun king's radiance : the chancellor Séguier, after 1660 / Cultivated leisure, music and champagne : the music-party, c. 1718 / A morning at the art dealer's : shop-sign for the art dealer Gersaint, 1720 / In praise of the freshly laundered shirt : the laundress, 1733 / The birth of the nuclear family : the breakfast, 1739 / The stage is clear for the countess and her lover : marriage a-la-mode : 4. The toilette, c. 1743 / The fire art of extravagance : the banquet of Cleopatra, 1746-1750 / A lecherous bull as sweet seducer : the rape of Europa, 1747 / The proper combination of activity and leisure : Mr and Mrs Andrews, 1749 / Every convent has its salon : the parlour of San Zaccaria, 1750 / Tennis with Apollo : the death of Hyacinthus, 1752/53 / Carnival in Venice : the minuet, c. 1754 / What's in a square : the Freyung, Vienna, from the southeast, 1759/60 / A star-machine explains the universe : a philosopher giving a lecture on the Orrery, 1764-1766 / The jewel in Saxony's crown : Dresden old town seen from the end of the new town bridge, 1765 / Those with no prospects in England go to India : George Clive with his family and an Indian maidservant, c. 1765 / A German icon : Goethe in the Roman campagna, 1786/87 / The holy revolution : the death of Marat, 1793 / The black widow, beautiful and deadly : The Duchess of Alba, 1797 / Yesterday's people : the family of Charles IV, 1800 / Fantasy of an unemployed architect : cathedral overlooking a city, 1813

(v. 2. cont.) A view to infinity : Chalk Cliffs on Rügen, c. 1818 / Dramatic struggle for survival : the raft of the Medusa, 1819 / A romantic's Asiatic tour de force : the death of Sardanapalus, c. 1827 / A painter on the barricades : Liberty leading the people, 1830 / Japanese on their travels : morning mist by Mishima, c. 1833 / Journey to a realm of light and colour : women of Algiers in their apartments, 1834 / Across the river and into the past : the Schreckenstein crossing, 1837 / The German painting best-loved by Germans : the poor poet, 1839 / The greatest amateur musician of the nation : the flute concert of Frederick the Great at Sanssouci, 1850-1852 / A studio opens its doors to the world : the studio, 1855 / The programme of modernism : music in the Tuileries gardens, 1862 / A fragrance of women and the Orient : the Turkish bath, 1863 / The wrong uniform exposes the true culprit : the execution of Maximilian, 1868 / The queen murders her children : Medea, 1870 / Royalty under the lime trees : the departure of King Wilhelm I for the army on 31 July 1870, 1871 / Unease in the shade of the trees : Camille Monet on a garden bench (The bench), 1873 / A look behind the scenes : the rehearsal on the stage, 1873 / Dancing on a Sunday on Montmartre : Au Moulin de la Galette, 1876 / Under the umbrella, loneliness : Paris street, rainy day, 1877 / A dream of the south and of death : The Isle of the dead, 1880 / Venue for gentry, bourgeoisie and boheme : the luncheon of the boating party, 1881 / Declaration of love for the capital of the world : a bar at the Folies Bergère, 1881 / In the paradise of the petite bourgeoisie, all are strangers : Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte, 1884/1886 / Jesus Christ, the lonely contemporary : Christ's entry into Brussels, 1888 / The world is out of joint : Potsdamer Platz, 1914 / Not long until it bursts apart : Metropolis (Triptych), 1928 / The Vitebsk man of sorrows : white crucifixion, 1938 / 400 years at a glance : dream of a Sunday afternoon in Alameda Park, 1948 / Appendix.