From Greece to Islamic art, through early Christian and Romanesque art, distinguished scholars introduce the great parable of ancient and medieval art. Not a consequential story, but extensive introductions to the many artistic worlds that built that great story. Important authors, international authorities in their field of competence, trace the red thread of ancient and medieval art with essays that are linked diachronically. A choral and innovative book resulting from the work of great connoisseurs of the artistic world, capable of achieving a true synthesis that offers new interpretations of masterpieces and styles. Unlike other worlds the Western world - and Europe in it - has a continuum of readability starting from Greek art where, for the first time, the integration between artistic production and historical periods was achieved. A framework in which the Islamic Mediterranean also participates for the medieval period.