The supreme genre for two centuries, history painting seemed to have disappeared after the long period of the avant-garde or modernism, with the exception of countries with totalitarian regimes that used it insistently. However, its revival by contemporary or postmodern art is both paradoxical and surprising. It can be argued that a substantial, and perhaps even majority, part of current artistic production uses the history genre, consciously or unconsciously, with political, ethical, or simply moralizing intent. To bring order to and delve deeper into this matter, six essays by renowned specialists are proposed. Felix de Azúa (coordinator of this volume), Jordi Ibáñez, Francisca Pérez Carreño, Gerard Vilar, Boris Buden y Lars Bang Larsen, which approach the issue from the various perspectives of criticism, reflection, exposition, adherence and information.

Essayist, novelist, poet, and translator, Felix de Azúa (Barcelona, ​​1944) is Professor of Aesthetics at the School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Author of the novels The Story of an Idiot Told by Himself (1986) Diary of a humiliated man (1987; Herralde Prize), Too many questions (1994) and Decisive moments (2000), has written, among others, the essays Baudelaire (1978) Casanova's Venice (1990) and The invention of Cain (2001). His poetic work is collected in the volume Last Blood. Poetry 1968-2007 (2007). Regular contributor to newspapers El País y El Periodico, he recently published Autobiography Without Life (2010).