James D. Herbert, born June 1959, is a professor in the Art History department at the University of California Irvine. After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale University, he became a part of the staff at Yale before moving on to the University of Southern California and finally to the University of California Irvine. He originally studied French paintings ranging from the late 19th century to early 20th century, but has widened his topics of interest to include other European Art. Besides studying painting, he also studies architecture, sculpture, gardens, and musicology. He describes his approach to art as one that "has ranged from the social history of depicted motifs, to the close semiotic analysis of pictorial details, to the comparative study of art and non-art objects in the manner of vi