A window provides access to two of life's essentials, light and air, but it is more than just a means to an end. Windows also have symbolic, expressive and architectural qualities that have for centuries inspired some of the world's greatest artists. In this engaging new study, Christopher Masters celebrates the multiple roles of the window in art through five key themes, from the window as a status symbol to its use as a provider of physical and spiritual illumination; from its employment as a literal window on the world outside the confines of a room to its function as a mirror, reflecting the emotions of the artist or the individuals depicted; and finally to the immense architectural variety of windows that animate interior and exterior scenes throughout Western painting. With superb reproductions of 90 works by major artists from Giotto to Banksy, and spirited analysis of the paintings' meanings, this is a remarkable exploration of an important but hitherto neglected subject in art history. AUTHOR: Christopher Masters is a writer and lecturer on art based in London. He writes for The Guardian newspaper and is the author of a book on Salvador Dali, as well as numerous articles and contributions to works of reference. SELLING POINTS: . A unique new survey of an intriguing but overlooked subject in art across the centuries . Features 90 works by such eminent artists as Caravaggio, Dalí, Hammershoi, Hockney, Hopper, Matisse, Titian and Vermeer . Lively and informative text illuminates the role of the window in painting as both object and metaphor 100 colour illustrations