The Louvre holds many of the most celebrated and important paintings of all time, and they, along with every other piece in the permanent collection--a staggering total of 3,022 works in all--are presented in the spectacular The Louvre: All the Paintings, an "exhibition catalogue" to forever define the term. The inventory is divided into four schools--Italian, Northern, French and Spanish--then arranged chronologically by the artist's date of birth, making it easy to browse, find and enjoy lively descriptions of the artists and their work. You'll also find tidbits of little-known gossip by observant art historians scattered throughout: for instance, Leonardo Da Vinci's The Virgin on the Rocks was originally received with disfavor because of the artist's insistence on light-dark contrast instead of clear identification of the figures.
Warning: The Louvre: All The Paintings weighs 10.6 lbs. and has 784 pages. Let the power lifting begin! --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.