This three volume set is a comprehensive account of the development of European aesthetics from the time of the ancient Greeks to the 1700s. This second volume focuses on eastern and western aesthetics in the Middle Ages.

In this authoritative and lively book, Unberto Eco, the celebrated Italian novelist and philosopher, examines the development of some of the principal aesthetic theories and problems of medieval Latin civilization.

Art must be the faithful expression of a society, since it represents it by its works as it has created them -- undeniable witnesses of its spirit and manners for future generations. But it must be acknowledged that art is only the consequence of the ideas which it expresses; it is the fruit of civilization, not its origin. To understand the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it is necessary to go back to the source of its art, and to know the life of our fathers; these are two inseparable things, which entwine one another, and become complete one by the other. - Preface.

Explains the origins, materials, and meaning of medieval European art, and describes developments in architecture, manuscript illumination, and other media.