This is the story of the British painter in his setting in society, from the time of Eadfrith of Lindisfarne in the eighth century to the present day. The story of indigenous painting in Britain starts with the early monks working boldly in fresco on the walls of a church and in delicate miniatures on a parchment page. We meet the masters of the painters guild among their journeymen and apprentices during the Middle Ages, and the king's painter busy with royal portraits and battlefield scences. We learn of the upheavals caused by the Reformation, and the coming of foreign painters, bringing alien, Renaissance forms and ideals, and of the long struggle of the British painters, under the four Georges, to regain their prestige and standing. The story continues through Victoria's reign and on down to the many 'isms' of recent years. Illustrated with 24 half-tone reproductions and numerous line drawings. 207 pages with index.