James Hall is an art critic and historian, currently Research Professor at the University of Southampton. Noted for his versatility and originality, his books include The World as Sculpture (Chatto, 1999); Michelangelo and the Reinvention of the Human Body (Chatto, 2005); The Sinister Side: How Left-Right Symbolism Shaped Western Art (Oxford University Press, 2008). The Self-Portrait: A Cultural History (Thames & Hudson, 2014) won the Travelling Scholarship Prize and has been translated into five languages. The Artist’s Studio: a Cultural History (Thames & Hudson) has just been published. James is a regular contributor to the Art Newspaper, Burlington Magazine and Times Literary Supplement.