Principles of Art History

Principles of Art History by Heinrich Woelfflin (1864-1945), a revolutionary attempt to construct a science of art through the study of the development of style, has been a foundational work of formalist art history since it was first published in 1915. At once systematic and subjective, and remarkable for its compelling descriptions of works of art, Woelfflin’s text has endured as an accessible yet rigorous approach to the study of style. Although Woelfflin applied his analysis to objects of early modern European art, Principles of Art History has been a fixture in the theoretical and methodological debates of the discipline of art history and has found a global audience.

With translations in twenty-four languages and many reprints, Woelfflin’s work may be the most widely read and translated book of art history ever. This new English translation, appearing one hundred years after the original publication, returns readers to Woelfflin’s 1915 text and images. It also includes the first English translations of the prefaces and afterword that Woelfflin himself added to later editions. Introductory essays provide a historical and critical framework, referencing debates engendered by Principles in the twentieth century for a renewed reading of the text in the twenty-first.