<em>À la recherche du temps perdu</em>by Marcel Proust is one of the most profoundly visual works in Westernliterature. Not only are there frequent references to specific works ofart, notably during the narrator's visits to Venice and in hisevaluations of the style of the imaginary painter Elstir, but certaincharacters are also evoked by comparison to particular paintings. Bloch'sappearance as a boy is likened to the portrait of Mohammed II byGentile Bellini; Odette de Crécy strikes Swann by her resemblance to afigure in a Botticelli fresco. Even the lesser figure of a certain Mme.Blattin becomes the subject of Proustian mischief by being described as"exactly the portrait of Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo." EricKarpeles has identified and located the many paintings to which Proustmakes reference; in other cases, where only a painter's name ismentioned to indicate a certain style or appearance, Karpeles has chosena representative work to illustrate the impression that Proust soughtto evoke.<br /><br />With some 200 paintings beautifully reproduced in fullcolor and texts drawn from the Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright translation,as well as concise commentaries on the novel's evolving story, this bookis an essential addition to the libraries of Proustians everywhere. Thebook also includes an authoritative introduction examining the variousways in which Proust used paintings and the arts to extend hisdescriptive vocabulary, and a comprehensive index of artists andpaintings mentioned in the novel.