This book, the first in Moshe Barasch's series on art theory, offers a comprehensive analysis and reassessment of major trends in European art theory and its development from the time of Plato to the early eighteenth century. Barasch expertly guides the reader from the interwoven attitudes and traditions of antiquity, through the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and the aesthetic values of the Middle Ages, to the branching out of several disciplines--art history, art criticism, abstract aesthetics--in the late Renaissance. Clearly outlining the development of art theory and exploring the central issues of each historical period, Theories of Art is a valuable resource for the art historian as well as a stimulating introduction for the general reader.