An interpretation of the history of mural painting from ancient Egypt to the twentieth century by one of most eminent art historians of all time, a writer who wielded huge influence over both his professional peers and a vast popular readership.

This timeless essay by E. H. Gombrich—one of the most influential art historians of the last century—explores the relations between ends, means, form, and function in art, and offers a stimulating interpretation of the history of mural painting from ancient Egypt to the twentieth century.

Taking Leonardo da Vinci's polemics against the mural painters of his day as his starting point, Gombrich illustrates the dual process by which the changing ends of art in ritualistic, didactic, narrative, or decorative contexts can lead to the development of fresh means which, in their turn, may influence the ends for which painting is used.