From the humanist prolegomena of Vasari to the scientific impulse that, in the current of the 19th century, would bring with it the establishment of Art History as university knowledge, the discipline has not been able to avoid constantly resorting to the concept of progress as the backbone of the historian's discourse. . Articulated by the debate of renowned specialists (Heinrich Wölfflin, Erwin Panofsky and Ernst Gombrich), as well as others less known but with no less relevant contributions on the subject (Clutton Brock, Thomas Munro and Suzi Gablik), this book analyzes the notions of progress and artistic decline with a depth not yet achieved. Long considered by specialists in the discipline as a matter that had to be addressed urgently, Olga Hazan's work is valued as one of the most important contributions to the history of art.