We should like to thank all our contributors for their patience during the long journey it has taken us to complete this Companion, and are grateful to Glenn Most and Jaś Elsner for their helpful advice during the early stages.
Versions of several of the essays included in the volume were presented at conferences held at the University of Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve) in December 2011, and at the University of Durham in March 2012. The Louvain conference was organized by Pierre Destrée, thanks to the generous support provided by the FRS (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de la Communauté Française de Belgique), and the Centre De Wulf-Mansion. It is a pleasure to record our thanks to Edmund Thomas for organizing the Durham conference, generously hosted by the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham University, and supported by the British Society of Aesthetics and the Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University.