The story of the color black in art, fashion, and culture?from the beginning of history to the twenty-first century. Black?favorite color of priests and penitents, artists and ascetics, fashion designers and fascists?has always stood for powerfully opposed ideas: authority and humility, sin and holiness, rebellion and conformity, wealth and poverty, good and bad. In this beautiful and richly illustrated book, the acclaimed author of Blue now tells the fascinating social history of the color black in Europe.