A specialist in the artistic movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, Italian art historian Bietoletti explains Neoclassical art as the aesthetic expression of the 18th-century philosophical movement founded on the principle of freedom of thought, known as the Enlightenment. She discusses features of and influences on the school such as the excavations of Herculaneium and Pompeii, Rome as a melting pot of new ideas, and the empire style. Next she profiles leading artists and works of the period and examines lifestyles at the time. Then Romanticism, the emotional reaction to the rationality of neoclassicalism, receives the same treatment. Among the features are purism, historical painting, the landscapes, and the Barbizon School. Exquisite color reproductions abound, of course. Neoclassicismo e Romanticismo was published by Guinti Editore in 2005, and is here translated by Angela Arnone. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)