This abundantly illustrated, full-colour volume provides an overview of the topic of music, musical instruments, and musical performance throughout the centuries, as depicted in Western works of art ranging from ancient sculpture to Renaissance paintings to modern art.

It serves as a handy guide for anyone desiring a comprehensive, yet succinct, answer—a first source for the academic scholar, university student, or educated layperson. It features sections devoted to individual instruments and sections focused on more general concepts, such as musical symbols and allegories and the instruments used in religious contexts.

A fascinating musical, historical, and art-historical narrative accompanies the full-colour works by artists including Anthony van Dyck, Hieronymus Bosch, Gustav Klimt, Francisco Goya, Marc Chagall, Man Ray, and the Antimedes Painter. The appendix contains lists of subjects and of artists and includes a glossary.