Arthur Kingsley Porter, known for his monumental study of Lombard and Romanesque architecture, here traces the roots of Renaissance sculpture to the smaller decorative sculptures found on the outside of churches and other buildings beginning around the turn of the first millennium A.D. His argument encompasses a wealth of small sculpture from all over Europe and includes monochrome photographs of those most central to his argument. The piece remains useful as an interpretive tour of the key featues and development of sculpture between 1000 and 1300 and as a profile of the work of several key artists whose work proved inspirational to later artists.