Every era has developed its own ways of viewing the world. The history of painting is also a history of seeing. The historical perspective on nature and humanity significantly influences the artistic work of the painter. Therefore, Volker Gebhardt outlines the cultural history of each era in his concise and pointed overview. Additionally, he portrays its most important representatives and traces the development from Rococo to Romanticism, from Realism to Art Nouveau, from Expressionism up to 1945, and the path into abstraction.