James Hall is an art critic, historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He was formerly Chief Art Critic of The Sunday Correspondent and of the Guardian. He contributes to the Guardian Saturday Review, The Times and Times Literary Supplement, as well as to many magazines and catalogues. He is the author of several books including The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History (Thames & Hudson, 2014), which the Sunday Times hailed as 'fascinating, erudite and beautifully produced'.

• Introduction1. Luxury and Lameness: the Shield of Achilles 2. Wisdom’s Workshop: Simon the Shoemaker3. Struggles in the Scriptorium: Waging War on Dead Skin 4. Pure Gold: doing God’s (or the Devil’s) Work.5. The Velvet Revolution: Cennini’s Studietto6. Piety and Pretentiousness: St Luke paints the Virgin.7. ‘Always Keeping Paper in his Hand’: A School for Art and Scandal8. In and Out of the Comfort Zone: Leonardo versus Michelangelo9. Creatures of the Night: ‘Only the dark serves to plant man’10. Making a Spectacle: The Systematic Studio11. Mirrors of Process: Velázquez to Reynolds 12. Women in the Studio: Love, Inspiration, Destitution, Crimes of Passion13. Chaste Space: Cells and Garrets14. Eliminating Easels: Workshop and Factory15. Inside / Outside: Studios for Nomads

'Innovative and wide-ranging … James Hall’s breadth of reference - and choice of images - is impressive, from Greek red figure vases to Francis Bacon’s paint-encrusted and cluttered workspace via Renaissance workshops and the Victorian war chronicler Roger Fenton’s mobile photographic carriage … [the studio] has, as Hall persuasively argues, been integral in artists projecting themselves as being more than mere craftsmen' - The Times, Art Books of the Year

James Hall is an art critic, historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He was formerly Chief Art Critic of The Sunday Correspondent and of the Guardian. He contributes to the Guardian Saturday Review, The Times and Times Literary Supplement, as well as to many magazines and catalogues. He is the author of several books including The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History (Thames & Hudson, 2014), which the Sunday Times hailed as 'fascinating, erudite and beautifully produced'.

• Introduction1. Luxury and Lameness: the Shield of Achilles 2. Wisdom’s Workshop: Simon the Shoemaker3. Struggles in the Scriptorium: Waging War on Dead Skin 4. Pure Gold: doing God’s (or the Devil’s) Work.5. The Velvet Revolution: Cennini’s Studietto6. Piety and Pretentiousness: St Luke paints the Virgin.7. ‘Always Keeping Paper in his Hand’: A School for Art and Scandal8. In and Out of the Comfort Zone: Leonardo versus Michelangelo9. Creatures of the Night: ‘Only the dark serves to plant man’10. Making a Spectacle: The Systematic Studio11. Mirrors of Process: Velázquez to Reynolds 12. Women in the Studio: Love, Inspiration, Destitution, Crimes of Passion13. Chaste Space: Cells and Garrets14. Eliminating Easels: Workshop and Factory15. Inside / Outside: Studios for Nomads

'Innovative and wide-ranging … James Hall’s breadth of reference - and choice of images - is impressive, from Greek red figure vases to Francis Bacon’s paint-encrusted and cluttered workspace via Renaissance workshops and the Victorian war chronicler Roger Fenton’s mobile photographic carriage … [the studio] has, as Hall persuasively argues, been integral in artists projecting themselves as being more than mere craftsmen' - The Times, Art Books of the Year

James Hall is an art critic, historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He was formerly Chief Art Critic of The Sunday Correspondent and of the Guardian. He contributes to the Guardian Saturday Review, The Times and Times Literary Supplement, as well as to many magazines and catalogues. He is the author of several books including The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History (Thames & Hudson, 2014), which the Sunday Times hailed as 'fascinating, erudite and beautifully produced'.

• Introduction1. Luxury and Lameness: the Shield of Achilles 2. Wisdom’s Workshop: Simon the Shoemaker3. Struggles in the Scriptorium: Waging War on Dead Skin 4. Pure Gold: doing God’s (or the Devil’s) Work.5. The Velvet Revolution: Cennini’s Studietto6. Piety and Pretentiousness: St Luke paints the Virgin.7. ‘Always Keeping Paper in his Hand’: A School for Art and Scandal8. In and Out of the Comfort Zone: Leonardo versus Michelangelo9. Creatures of the Night: ‘Only the dark serves to plant man’10. Making a Spectacle: The Systematic Studio11. Mirrors of Process: Velázquez to Reynolds 12. Women in the Studio: Love, Inspiration, Destitution, Crimes of Passion13. Chaste Space: Cells and Garrets14. Eliminating Easels: Workshop and Factory15. Inside / Outside: Studios for Nomads

'Innovative and wide-ranging … James Hall’s breadth of reference - and choice of images - is impressive, from Greek red figure vases to Francis Bacon’s paint-encrusted and cluttered workspace via Renaissance workshops and the Victorian war chronicler Roger Fenton’s mobile photographic carriage … [the studio] has, as Hall persuasively argues, been integral in artists projecting themselves as being more than mere craftsmen' - The Times, Art Books of the Year