How do you feel about your art savvy? If you'd like to know about a lot more, the Encyclopedia of Western Art could fill this need. It's a superbly produced introduction to Western art from the year 1000 to 1900. The two CDs have been designed to particularly suit people who want to browse and learn. You can approach the encyclopedia's information in several ways--chronologically, by looking at particular artists by name, or by examining specific masterpieces, or by discovering the artworks in a particular city. A glossary is on hand to help with technical terms. Whatever approach you choose, the order of the day is pointing and clicking while listening to classical music from the time in history that your chosen work of art comes from.
It takes a while to get used to the way the CD actually works. Its point and click system is not always intuitive, and it is fairly easy to get lost moving through all the hyperlinks between different segments of information, but the help booklet in the CD case gets you through most issues. The ideal way to use this CD is turn the lights down low and simply browse. --Sandra Vogel
