Art of the Western World

This is an excellent series, covering the main art movements of Europe; it begins with the Greeks and Romans, moves through the medieval development and on to the Renaissance. The material on the modern movements is just as authoritative. Michael Wood is an enthusiastic and engaging host, and there is a good selection of experts presenting material in their areas of expertise.

The material is both accurate and comprehensive. Highly recommended. It is useful both as an introduction to the various periods and for more serious students; when I was teaching Art History, I used several episodes in the classroom.

Although there is no substitute for seeing the actual works of art, documentary series like this can be both useful and stimulating. It is available on VHS (try Amazon) but as far as I am aware not on DVD yet.