Celebrating Europe’s art and creative geniuses, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Vincent van Gogh; Florence’s bold “rebirth” after Europe’s medieval struggles; impressionist works of the late 1800s.

In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution spawned new artistic styles: idealized Romanticism, light-chasing Impressionism, sensuous Art Nouveau.

In the 1600s and 1700s, godlike royals clung to the old medieval order while new ideas bubbled beneath the surface. RICK STEVES ART OF THE BAROQUE AGE explores this fascinating period of art and architecture.

As the Ice Age glaciers melted, European civilization was born—and with it, so was art.

As the Ice Age glaciers melted, European civilization was born—and with it, so was art.

The Romans gave Europe its first taste of a common culture — and awe-inspiring art. From its groundbreaking architecture to its statues, mosaics, and frescos, Rome engineered bigger and better than anyone before. At its peak, the Roman Empire was a society of unprecedented luxury, with colossal arenas for entertaining the masses and giant monuments to egotistical emperors. And then it fell.

As the Ice Age glaciers melted, European civilization was born—and with it, so was art.

In the 1600s and 1700s, the art of "divine" kings and popes — and of revolutionaries and Reformers — tells the story of a Europe in transition. In the Catholic south, Baroque bubbled over with fanciful decoration and exuberant emotion. In the Protestant north, art was more sober and austere. And in France, the excesses of godlike kings gave way to revolution, Napoleon, and cerebral Neoclassicism.

Around 1400, Europe rediscovered the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome. This rebirth of classical culture showed itself in the statues, paintings, and architecture of Florence, then spread to Spain, Holland, Germany, and beyond. The Renaissance — from art-loving popes to Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" and Michelangelo's "David" — celebrated humanism and revolutionized how we think about our world.

After Rome fell, Europe spent a thousand years in its Middle Ages. Its art shows how the light of civilization flickered in monasteries and on Europe's fringes: Christian Byzantium, Moorish Spain, and pagan Vikings. Then, around A.D. 1000, Europe rebounded. The High Middle Ages brought majestic castles, radiant Gothic cathedrals, and exquisite art that dazzled the faithful and the secular alike.