Robert Bagley is professor emeritus in the department of art and archaeology at Princeton University. His recent publications include the chapter on art in the fourth volume of The Cambridge World History.

"Indeed [Bagley’s] accessible prose enables us to appreciate the beautifully illustrated art of a variety of cultures in a book that is definitely an aesthetic object in itself."

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionStyles, Periods, and the Life Cycle of the GoblinThe First Paper AssignmentMeaning and ExplanationInterpreting Prehistoric DesignsShang Ritual Bronzes: Casting Technique and Vessel DesignWhat the Bronzes from Hunyuan Tell Us about the Foundry at HoumaOrnament, Representation, and Imaginary Animals in Bronze Age ChinaGombrich amond the Egyptians: The History of Art as a Contest between Seeing and KnowingFigure Credits

Robert Bagley is professor emeritus in the department of art and archaeology at Princeton University. His recent publications include the chapter on art in the fourth volume of The Cambridge World History.

"Indeed [Bagley’s] accessible prose enables us to appreciate the beautifully illustrated art of a variety of cultures in a book that is definitely an aesthetic object in itself."

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionStyles, Periods, and the Life Cycle of the GoblinThe First Paper AssignmentMeaning and ExplanationInterpreting Prehistoric DesignsShang Ritual Bronzes: Casting Technique and Vessel DesignWhat the Bronzes from Hunyuan Tell Us about the Foundry at HoumaOrnament, Representation, and Imaginary Animals in Bronze Age ChinaGombrich amond the Egyptians: The History of Art as a Contest between Seeing and KnowingFigure Credits

Robert Bagley is professor emeritus in the department of art and archaeology at Princeton University. His recent publications include the chapter on art in the fourth volume of The Cambridge World History.

"Indeed [Bagley’s] accessible prose enables us to appreciate the beautifully illustrated art of a variety of cultures in a book that is definitely an aesthetic object in itself."

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionStyles, Periods, and the Life Cycle of the GoblinThe First Paper AssignmentMeaning and ExplanationInterpreting Prehistoric DesignsShang Ritual Bronzes: Casting Technique and Vessel DesignWhat the Bronzes from Hunyuan Tell Us about the Foundry at HoumaOrnament, Representation, and Imaginary Animals in Bronze Age ChinaGombrich amond the Egyptians: The History of Art as a Contest between Seeing and KnowingFigure Credits