In their sheer vitality and strength of feeling, wealth of craftsmanship and opulence of materials, the visual arts of the Middle Ages illuminated dark and dangerous times. Illustrators, sculptors, glaziers; architects, mosaicists, goldsmiths, stonemasons - all played their part to create works of extraordinary vividness and power. In three beautifully illustrated volumes that follow the evolution of artistic style from the 4th to the 15th centuries, we see the exuberance of the early ecclesiastical tradition - church architecture, liturgical decoration and illuminated books - transforming the physical and artistic landscape of Western Europe. The Age of Illumination provides unparalled insight into how Europe came to be civilised and enlightened by Christianity, and how the symbolism of the faith matured over time, from the crudest symbols of bird and beast etched onto the wall of a house or burial chamber, to the monumental sculpture of Chartres and the mosaics of San Vitale. ( )