A Child's History of Art

Subjects and historical periods in A Child's History of Art by Hillyer and Huey

Online in "Daisy" audio format for the visually impaired.

Jump to:
Chapters loosely arranged by date
Table of Contents for Lester's Great Pictures and their Stories

A Child's History of Art

Part I Painting

1 The Oldest Pictures in the World - cave pictures
2 What's Wrong with this Picture? - Egyptian tombs
3 Palace Picture Puzzles - alabastar tree of life; ancient Assyria
4 April Fool Pictures - Greeks Zeuxis 400BC, Parrhasius 400BC, Apelles 300BC
5 Jars and Jugs - Greek vases 500BC
6 Pictures of Christ and Christians - catacombs 100AD
7 The Shepherd Boy Painter - Cimabue 1280AD
8 The Angel-Like Brother - Fra Angelico 1400
9 Born Again Painters - Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Benozzo Gozzoli 1400's
10 Sins and Sermons - Botticelli, Fra Bartolomeo late 1400's
11 A Great Teacher and a "Greatest" Pupil - Perugino, Raphael 1500
12 The Sculptor who Painted Pictures - Michelangelo 1500's
13 Leonardo Da Vinci - 1452-1519
14 Six Venetians - Bellini 1430-1516, Titian 1485-1576, Tintoretto 1518-1594
15 A Tailor's Son and a Master of Light - Andrea del Sarto 1486-1531, Correggio 1489-1534
16 Flemings - Van Eyck 1395-1441, Rubens 1577-1640
17 Two Dutchmen - Frans Hals 1580-1666, Rembrandt 1606-1669
18 U and Jr. - Durer 1471-1528, Holbein the Younger 1498-1543
19 Forgotten and Discovered - Vermeer 1632-1675
20 Speaking of Spaniards - El Greco 1541-1614, Velasquez 1599-1660, Murillo 1617-1682
21 Landscapes and Sign-Boards - Poussin 1594-1665, Claude Lorrain 1600-1682, Watteau 1684-1721, Chardin 1699-1779
22 Stirring Times - Jacque-Louis David 1748-1825, Delacroix 1798-1863
23 A Late Start - Hogarth 1697-1764, Reynolds 1723-1792, Gainesborough 1727-1788
24 Three Englishmen Who Were Different - Blake 1757-1827, Constable 1776-1837, Turner 1848-1908
25 Some Very Poor Painters - Corot 1796-1875, Millet 1814-1875
26 The Most Important Person - Monet 1840-1926
27 Post Impressionism - Cezanne 1839-1906, Van Gogh 1853-1890, Gauguin 1848-1903
28 Early Americans - Benjamin West 1738-1820, Gilbert Stuart 1755-1828
29 More Americans - Robert Fulton 1765-1815, Samuel Morse 1791-1872, Inness 1825-1894, Homer 1836-1910
30 Two European Americans - Whistler 1834-1903, Sargent
31 Real-Men Artists - Remington 1861-1909, Bellows 1882-1925

Part II Sculpture

1 The First Sculpture - ancient Egypt
2 Giants and Pygmies - Sphinx, scarab beetles 2000BC?
3 Cherubs and Kings - ancient Assyria
4 Marbles - Greek statues 400BC
5 Standing Naturally - Polyclitus 415BC
6 The Greatest Greek Sculptor - Phidias 450BC
7 After Phidias - Praxiteles 370BC, Scopas 350BC
8 Plaster Casts - dying Gaul, Apollo Belvedere 350BC
9 Tiny Treasures - Roman cameos 30BC?
10 Baked Earth Sculptures - terra cotta, tanagra, patina 200BC
11 Busts and Reliefs - Rome 13 BC
12 Stories in Stones - iconoclasts, gargoyles 800 AD
13 The Gates of Paradise - Ghiberti 1424
14 A Treasure Hunter And A Secret - Donatello 1386-1466, Luca della Robbia 1400-1482
15 Next Best and Best - Donatello's Gattamelata 1450, Verrocchio 1435-1488
16 Four in One - Michelangelo 1475
17 Cellini Makes His Perseus - 1545-1554
18 A.M., or, After Michelangelo - Goujon 1510-1572, Giovanni of Bologna 1529-1608
19 An Italian and a Dane - Canova 1757-1822, Thorvaldsen 1770-1844
20 On a Postage Stamp - Houdon 1741-1828
21 A Lion, A Saint, And an Emperor - Bayre 1839-1882, Fremiet 1824-1910
22 A Handsome Present - Bartholdi 1834-1904, Statue of Liberty 1886
23 Thoughts for Thinkers - Rodin 1840-1917
24 Our Own Sculpture - William Rush 1756-1833, Horatio Greenough 1805-1852, Hiram Powers 1805-1873, Thomas Crawford 1814-1857
25 Our Best - Saint-Gaudens 1848-1907
26 Daniel Chester French - 1850-1931
27 Women's Work - Marie Tussaud 1761-1850, Anna Huntington's Joan of Arc (1910) 1876-1973
28 The End of the Trail - Edward McCartan 1879-1947, Alexander Proctor 1860-1950, James Earle Fraser 1876-1953

Part III Architecture

1 The Oldest House - pyramids
2 Houses for Gods - Stonehenge 2300BC?
3 Mud Pie Palaces and Temples - ancient Assyria, arch
4 The Perfect Building - Parthenon 495BC
5 Woman's Style Building - Erectheum 400BC??
6 New Styles in Building - Corinthian/composite 200BC?
7 Rome Was Not Built in a Day - Pantheon 50BC?, Colosseum 70AD
8 Trimmings - fillet, scallop, meander, dentil, astragal, anthemion
9 Early Christian - basilica 100AD?
10 Eastern Early Christians - Byzantine, St. Sophia/Hagia Sophia 532AD
11 Lights in the Dark - Charlemagne 742-814
12 Round Arches - Romanesque, leaning tower 1100?
13 Castles - Carcassonne 100AD-1247, Pierrefonds 1393-1407
14 Pointing Toward Heaven - Gothic churches 1100-1500
15 In Praise of Mary - Notre Dame 1200, Chartres 1100's, Rheims/Reims cathedral 1200's-1300's
16 Country Cathedrals - Durham Cathedral 1093-1280, Salisbury Cathedral 1220-1320, Lincoln Cathedral 1185-1311
17 Here and There - Cologne Cathedral 1248-1880, St. Mark's Basilica 1094-1617
18 Open Sesame - Alhambra 1300's-1527, Taj Mahal 1632-1653
19 Dome Trouble - Brunelleschi 1439/1461
20 Backward and Forward - Riccardi Palace 1445-1460, St. Peter's Rome 1506-1626
21 The Homes of England - manor houses 1300's?, Tudor homes 1500's
22 Trade-Marks - Chateau of Blois 1200's-1700's, Chateau of Chambord 1519-1547, Eiffel Tower 1887-1889
23 Breaking Rules - Baroque 1600's-1700's, Santa Maria della Salute 1631-1687
24 The English Renaissance - Palace of Whitehall 1530-1698, St. Paul's Cathedral 600-1708
25 From Huts to Houses - log cabins 1600's-1800's, Colonial homes 1660-1780, Monticello 1772, Spanish missions
26 Al and Ol - Pierre Charles L'Enfant 1754-1825, the US Capitol 1855-1866, Lincoln Memorial 1922
27 Rainbows and Grape-Vines - Bridges, London Bridge; ancient bridges to modern suspension bridges
28 The Scrapers of the Sky - Empire State Building 1929-1931
In Later Editions:
29 New Ideas - architecture: windows, function, comfort
30 Nons and Surs - abstract paintings, Picasso 1881-1973, Dali 1904-1989
31 More Modern Painters - John Steuart Curry 1897-1946, Grant Wood 1891-1942, Hopper 1882-1967, Diego Rivera 1886-1957
32 Modern Sculpture - Constantin Brancusi 1876-1957, Hugo Robus 1861-1929, Paul Manship 1885-1966

Chapters loosely arranged by date

The following chapters correspond roughly with Year 1 (Year 7 would correspond all the way through "Painting ch 10 Sins and Sermons")
Painting ch 1 The Oldest Pictures in the World - cave pictures
Sculpture ch 1 The First Sculpture - ancient Egypt
Architecture ch 1 The Oldest House - pyramids
Painting ch 2 What's Wrong with this Picture? - Egyptian tombs
Architecture ch 2 Houses for Gods - Stonehenge 2300BC?
Sculpture ch 2 Giants and Pygmies - Sphinx, scarab beetles 2000BC?
Painting ch 3 Palace Picture Puzzles - alabastar tree of life; ancient Assyria
Sculpture ch 3 Cherubs and Kings - ancient Assyria
Architecture ch 3 Mud Pie Palaces and Temples - ancient Assyria, arch
Architecture ch 4 The Perfect Building - Parthenon 495BC
Sculpture ch 4 Marbles - Greek statues 400BC
Painting ch 4 April Fool Pictures - Greeks Zeuxis 400BC, Parrhasius 400BC, Apelles 300BC
Painting ch 5 Jars and Jugs - Greek vases 500BC
Sculpture ch 5 Standing Naturally - Polyclitus 415BC
Sculpture ch 6 The Greatest Greek Sculptor - Phidias 450BC
Architecture ch 5 Woman's Style Building - Erectheum 400BC??
Sculpture ch 7 After Phidias - Praxiteles 370BC, Scopas 350BC
Sculpture ch 8 Plaster Casts - dying Gaul, Apollo Belvedere 350BC
Architecture ch 6 New Styles in Building - Corinthian/composite 200BC?
Sculpture ch 10 Baked Earth Sculptures - terra cotta, tanagra, patina 200BC
Architecture ch 7 Rome Was Not Built in a Day - Pantheon 50BC?, Colosseum 70AD
Sculpture ch 9 Tiny Treasures - Roman cameos 30BC?
Sculpture ch 11 Busts and Reliefs - Rome 13 BC
Painting ch 6 Pictures of Christ and Christians - catacombs 100AD
Architecture ch 8 Trimmings - fillet, scallop, meander, dentil, astragal, anthemion
Architecture ch 9 Early Christian - basilica 100AD?
Architecture ch 10 Eastern Early Christians - Byzantine, St. Sophia/Hagia Sophia 532AD
Architecture ch 11 Lights in the Dark - Charlemagne 742-814
Sculpture ch 12 Stories in Stones - iconoclasts, gargoyles 800 AD

The following chapters correspond roughly with Year 2
Architecture ch 12 Round Arches - Romanesque, leaning tower 1100?
Architecture ch 13 Castles - Carcassonne 100AD-1247, Pierrefonds 1393-1407
Architecture ch 14 Pointing Toward Heaven - Gothic churches 1100-1500
Painting ch 7 The Shepherd Boy Painter - Cimabue 1280AD
Architecture ch 15 In Praise of Mary - Notre Dame 1200, Chartres 1100's, Rheims/Reims cathedral 1200's-1300's
Architecture ch 16 Country Cathedrals - Durham Cathedral 1093-1280, Salisbury Cathedral 1220-1320, Lincoln Cathedral 1185-1311
Painting ch 8 The Angel-Like Brother - Fra Angelico 1400
Sculpture ch 13 The Gates of Paradise - Ghiberti 1424
Sculpture ch 14 A Treasure Hunter And A Secret - Donatello 1386-1466, Luca della Robbia 1400-1482
Painting ch 9 Born Again Painters - Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Benozzo Gozzoli 1400's
Painting ch 10 Sins and Sermons - Botticelli, Fra Bartolomeo late 1400's

The following chapters correspond roughly with Year 3 (and Year 8)
Sculpture ch 15 Next Best and Best - Donatello's Gattamelata 1450, Verrocchio 1435-1488
Painting ch 11 A Great Teacher and a "Greatest" Pupil - Perugino, Raphael 1500
Painting ch 12 The Sculptor who Painted Pictures - Michelangelo 1500's
Painting ch 13 Leonardo Da Vinci - 1452-1519
Sculpture ch 16 Four in One - Michelangelo 1475
Sculpture ch 17 Cellini Makes His Perseus - 1545-1554
Painting ch 14 Six Venetians - Bellini 1430-1516, Titian 1485-1576, Tintoretto 1518-1594
Painting ch 15 A Tailor's Son and a Master of Light - Andrea del Sarto 1486-1531, Correggio 1489-1534
Painting ch 16 Flemings - Van Eyck 1395-1441, Rubens 1577-1640
Sculpture ch 18 A.M., or, After Michelangelo - Goujon 1510-1572, Giovanni of Bologna 1529-1608
Painting ch 17 Two Dutchmen - Frans Hals 1580-1666, Rembrandt 1606-1669
Painting ch 18 U and Jr. - Durer 1471-1528, Holbein the Younger 1498-1543
Architecture ch 17 Here and There - Cologne Cathedral 1248-1880, St. Mark's Basilica 1094-1617
Architecture ch 18 Open Sesame - Alhambra 1300's-1527, Taj Mahal 1632-1653
Architecture ch 19 Dome Trouble - Brunelleschi 1439/1461
Architecture ch 20 Backward and Forward - Riccardi Palace 1445-1460, St. Peter's Rome 1506-1626
Architecture ch 21 The Homes of England - manor houses 1300's?, Tudor homes 1500's
Painting ch 19 Forgotten and Discovered - Vermeer 1632-1675

The following chapters correspond roughly with Year 4 (and Year 9)
Painting ch 20 Speaking of Spaniards - El Greco 1541-1614, Velasquez 1599-1660, Murillo 1617-1682
Painting ch 21 Landscapes and Sign-Boards - Poussin 1594-1665, Claude Lorrain 1600-1682, Watteau 1684-1721, Chardin 1699-1779
Sculpture ch 19 An Italian and a Dane - Canova 1757-1822, Thorvaldsen 1770-1844
Sculpture ch 20 On a Postage Stamp - Houdon 1741-1828
Painting ch 22 Stirring Times - Jacque-Louis David 1748-1825, Delacroix 1798-1863
Painting ch 23 A Late Start - Hogarth 1697-1764, Reynolds 1723-1792, Gainesborough 1727-1788
Architecture ch 22 Trade-Marks - Chateau of Blois 1200's-1700's, Chateau of Chambord 1519-1547, Eiffel Tower 1887-1889
Architecture ch 23 Breaking Rules - Baroque 1600's-1700's, Santa Maria della Salute 1631-1687
Architecture ch 24 The English Renaissance - Palace of Whitehall 1530-1698, St. Paul's Cathedral 600-1708
Architecture ch 25 From Huts to Houses - log cabins 1600's-1800's, Colonial homes 1660-1780, Monticello 1772, Spanish missions

The following chapters correspond roughly with Year 5 (and Year 10)
Painting ch 24 Three Englishmen Who Were Different - Blake 1757-1827, Constable 1776-1837, Turner 1848-1908
Painting ch 25 Some Very Poor Painters - Corot 1796-1875, Millet 1814-1875
Architecture ch 26 Al and Ol - Pierre Charles L'Enfant 1754-1825, the US Capitol 1855-1866, Lincoln Memorial 1922
Sculpture ch 21 A Lion, A Saint, And an Emperor - Bayre 1839-1882, Fremiet 1824-1910
Sculpture ch 22 A Handsome Present - Bartholdi 1834-1904, Statue of Liberty 1886
Sculpture ch 23 Thoughts for Thinkers - Rodin 1840-1917
Painting ch 26 The Most Important Person - Monet 1840-1926
Painting ch 27 Post Impressionism - Cezanne 1839-1906, Van Gogh 1853-1890, Gauguin 1848-1903
Painting ch 28 Early Americans - Benjamin West 1738-1820, Gilbert Stuart 1755-1828
Painting ch 29 More Americans - Robert Fulton 1765-1815, Samuel Morse 1791-1872, Inness 1825-1894, Homer 1836-1910
Sculpture ch 24 Our Own Sculpture - William Rush 1756-1833, Horatio Greenough 1805-1852, Hiram Powers 1805-1873, Thomas Crawford 1814-1857
Sculpture ch 25 Our Best - Saint-Gaudens 1848-1907
Sculpture ch 26 Daniel Chester French - 1850-1931
Painting ch 30 Two European Americans - Whistler 1834-1903, Sargent
Painting ch 31 Real-Men Artists - Remington 1861-1909, Bellows 1882-1925
Sculpture ch 27 Women's Work - Marie Tussaud 1761-1850, Anna Huntington's Joan of Arc (1910) 1876-1973
Sculpture ch 28 The End of the Trail - Edward McCartan 1879-1947, Alexander Proctor 1860-1950, James Earle Fraser 1876-1953
Architecture ch 27 Rainbows and Grape-Vines - Bridges, London Bridge; ancient bridges to modern suspension bridges
Architecture ch 28 The Scrapers of the Sky - Empire State Building 1929-1931

The following chapters correspond roughly with Year 6
Architecture ch In Later Editions:
Architecture ch 29 New Ideas - architecture: windows, function, comfort
Architecture ch 30 Nons and Surs - abstract paintings, Picasso 1881-1973, Dali 1904-1989
Architecture ch 31 More Modern Painters - John Steuart Curry 1897-1946, Grant Wood 1891-1942, Hopper 1882-1967, Diego Rivera 1886-1957
Architecture ch 32 Modern Sculpture - Constantin Brancusi 1876-1957, Hugo Robus 1861-1929, Paul Manship 1885-1966

Great Pictures and their Stories

by Katharine Morris Lester

A series of small graded readers for schools. They are not online, but if you have the set, these are the pictures/artists in them:
--Book 1 (First Grade)
     Baby Stuart - Van Dyck pg 17
     Nurse and Child - Hals pg 21
     The Calmady Children - Lawrence pg 29
     Madonna of the Chair - Raphael pg 35
     With Grandma - MacEwen pg 42
     Children of the Shell - Murillo pg 51
     Princess Margarita Theresa - Velasquez pg 58
     Feeding Her Birds - Millet pg 66
     Children of the Sea - Israels pg 74
     Holy Night - Correggio pg 83
--Book 2 (Second Grade)
     A Holiday - Potthast pg 13
     Mme. Lebrun and Her Daughter - Vigee-Lebrun pg 21
     Don Carlos on Horseback - Velasquez pg 28
     The Boy with a Rabbit - Raeburn pg 37
     The Storage Room - De Hooch pg 45
     The Pastry Eaters - Murillo pg 53
     Age of Innocence - Reynolds pg 61
     Home Work - Carriere pg 69
     Children of Charles I - Van Dyck pg 77
     Sistine Madonna - Raphael pg 84
--Book 3 (Third Grade)
     Miss Bowles - Reynolds pg 13
     Hearing - Smith pg 20
     Dancing in a Ring - Thoma pg 29
     Angel With a Lute - Carpaccio pg 37
     Distinguished Member of the Humane Society - Landseer pg 45
     Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose - Sargent pg 53
     Return to the Fold - Mauve pg 61
     Pilgrims Going to Church - Boughton pg 69
     Going to Church in Moravia - Uprka pg 77
     The Primitive Sculptor - Couse pg 85
--Book 4 (Fourth Grade)
     Aurora - Reni pg 13
     The Horsefair - Bonheur pg 25
     Behind the Plow - Kemp-Welch pg 35
     Venetian Waters - Tito pg 47
     The Sheepfold - Jacque pg 59
     The Gleaners - Millet pg 69
     The Solemn Pledge - Ufer pg 81
     Preparing for Church - Blommers pg 93
     Going to Market - Troyon pg 103
     The Blue Boy - Gainsborough pg 115
--Book 5 (Fifth Grade)
     Spring Dance - Von Stuck pg 13
     After a Summer Shower - Inness pg 25
     The Sewing School - Artz pg 33
     Russian Winter - Grabar pg 41
     Return of the Fishermen - Sorolla pg 49
     Song of the Lark - Breton pg 61
     Santa Fe Trail - Young-Hunter pg 72
     Appeal to the Great Spirit - Dallin pg 81
     Lady with a Lute - Vermeer pg 93
     Galahad The Deliverer - Abbey pg 105
--Book 6 (Sixth Grade)
     The Jester - Hals pg 13
     The Mill - Ruysdael pg 21
     Flower Girl of Holland - Hitchcock pg 33
     View of Ghent - Baertsoen pg 45
     A Dutch Interior - De Hooch pg 53
     Fog Warning - Homer pg 65
     Joan of Arc - Bastien-Le-Page pg 73
     Joan of Arc - Chapu pg 85
     Christ in the Temple - Hofmann pg 93
     The Angelus - Millet pg 105
--Book 7 (Seventh Grade)
     Moonlight, Wood's Island Light - Homer pg 13
     Sir Galahad - Watts pg 25
     The Vigil - Pettie pg 37
     Dance of the Nymphs - Corot pg 45
     Icebound - Metcalf pg 57
     The Concert - Ter Borch pg 65
     King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid - Burne-Jones pg 77
     The Prophets - Sargent pg 89
     Bartolommeo Colleoni - Verrocchio pg 101
     Avenue of Trees - Hobbema pg 109
--Book 8 (Eighth Grade)
     George Washington - Stuart pg 13
     Upon the Stairs - Zorn pg 25
     Cotopaxi - Church pg 33
     Syndics of the Cloth Guild - Rembrandt pg 45
     An Arrangement in Black and Gray - Whistler pg 57
     Church of Old Lyme - Hassam pg 69
     The Last Supper - Da Vinci pg 77
     St. Genevieve Watching Over Paris - De Chavannes pg 89
     The Fighting Temeraire - Turner pg 101
     Victory of Samothrace - pg 113

AmblesideOnline's free Charlotte Mason homeschool curriculum prepares children for a life of rich relationships with God, humanity, and the natural world.
Share AO with your group or homeschool fair! Download our printable brochure