Thompson, Kate: A handbook to the public picture galleries of Europe: with a brief sketch of the history of the various schools of painting, from the 13th century to the 18th inclusive (London: Macmillan and Co., 1880)

vi

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

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and titles from the local catalogues, in order to facilitate
reference on the part of the traveller. I have placed at the
end of the work a list for each gallery, or short catalogue,
of these pictures. These will be found under the painters'
names, which are arranged for convenience in alphabetical
order.
2. I have endeavoured to give a brief historical sketch
of each of the European Schools of Art from its earliest
known origin to the end of the last century. This
necessarily comprises a few biographical records of each
principal master, and I have examined and collated the
best known as well as the most recent works for the facts
and dates given. Then, in order to illustrate the work
of each school or master, I have throughout invariably
referred in the text to several pictures as typical examples,
stating the number of each in the gallery to which it
belongs. While the great majority of these examples is of
course to be found in galleries and museums, not a few
churches, especially in Italy, are also referred to. My
object has not been to make a long list of painters, which
would have been a very easy task, but, on the contrary, to
limit as far as possible this elementary study to the con-
sideration of those .masters who were really famous or
necessary to be mentioned in tracing the outlines of the
history.
3. I have compiled with great care Chronological Tables
containing the dates of birth and death, so far as they are
known, of every painter of celebrity—that is, historically
recognised as such—during the period already stated. At
the same time I have endeavoured to ascertain the correct
spelling of names, by no means an easy task, for the in-
stances are not few in which two or more modes of spelling
are supported on good authority.
4. Further, I ought to say that I have not mentioned
any picture which has not been seen and noted by myself:
many have been examined more than once or even twice.
But I have not felt myself qualified to enter into the
region of Art criticism, and have not aspired to do so.