Excerpt from A History of Painting in Italy, Vol. 1 of 6: Umbria Florence and Siena From the Second to the Six-Teenth Century<br><br>I had come under the direct influence of Mr. Ruskin. Through no fault of my own, my scheme came to nothing and when, in the year 1899, I was asked to join Mr. Strong in the work of editing this book, I gladly accepted the invitation. In the earlier stages of the preparation of these volumes Mr. Strong took an active part. He has, however, been prevented by illness from correcting the final proofs, and cannot, therefore, be held responsible for any mistakes to be found in them. It is to be hoped that the remaining volumes of this edition will be en riched by the fruits of his wide study of Italian pictures and drawings, by his fine connoisseurship, and his archaeo logical and iconographical erudition.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.