Includes bibliographical references and index.

Rudolf Wittkower (1901-1971), a leading authority on the art and architecture of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, was born in Berlin and received his Ph.D. from the university of Berlin in 1923. He was a research fellow at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome from 1923 to 1933 and came to London as a member of the Warburg Institute in 1934, where he remained until 1956. he was reader and then Professor at the University of London 1945 to 1956 and from 1956 to 1969 Chairman of the Department of Art History and Archaeology. Columbia University, where at the time of his death he was Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities Emeritus. In 1969-1970 he was Kress Professor in Residence at the National Gallery, Washington, D.C., and in 1970-1971 Slade Professor at Cambridge University. he was also a member of the Institute for Advanced study in Princeton. Professor Wittkower held several honorary degrees and was the recipient of the Serena Medal, British Academy, and the Sir Banister Fletcher Prize. He was a fellow of the Warburg Institute: the Royal Institute of British architects; Christ College, Cambridge : And the Royal Society of the Arts, and a member of the other Academies in Italy, Britain, The United States, and Germany.