Classic and Romantic confronted each other in the course of the century of the bourgeoisie. The Romanticism of Schinkel, builder of Berlin, and the paintings of Friedrich, which so fascinated and still fascinate the public even today. Eminent historian but also skilled storyteller, Cesare de Seta possesses a wealth of knowledge such as to be able to juggle with finesse between arts and styles that have marked the transition to the modern age. Only a great historian of European architecture and art could conceive this exciting journey that begins at the end of the ancien régime, around the middle of the eighteenth century, and reaches the point of understanding the great revolutionary movement in the way of "seeing" the art that was Impressionism. Even the construction of the Eiffel Tower, built between 1887 and 1889, immediately became a universal symbol of modernity. The author follows all the arts, up to the birth of photography. Being also a skilled storyteller, de Seta writes a work of enjoyable writing and easy reading, well accompanied by ready-to-use notes. Thus a story that begins with David, Blake and Goya, and reaches Manet and Monet, who draw on the great English landscape painting of Gainsborough and others.