Heaven on Earth: Painting and the Life To Come

Starting with artworks from the Middle Ages and Renaissance and ending with those created during the early 20th century, British art historian Clark (The Painting of Modern Life) investigates paintings depicting God's kingdom come, or heaven on earth. In essays on masterpieces that the author has discussed in lectures at universities including Harvard and Berkeley, he examines works by Giotto (d. 1337), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525–69), Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), Paolo Veronese (1528–88), and Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) to reveal how their artworks imagined the earthly world transfigured. Focusing less on traditional art subjects such as style and iconography, Clark addresses issues pertaining to space, gravity, viewers' perceptions, perspectives, forms, colors, religious interpretations, and other topics, including social themes. His essays encompass a survey-like arrangement in terms of chronology and explore Giotto's frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy; Bruegel's The Land of Cockaigne; Poussin's "Sacraments" series; Veronese's four-part Allegory of Love; and Picasso's Guernica.