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Renaissance architect and theoretician Leon Battista Alberti proposed that history painting was the highest form of art. Ineed, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, painters of historical subjects were elevated among their peers by proponents of the various officially sanctioned art academies.

Although history painting may no longer claim the lofty status it one enjoyed, modern artists dedicated to this subject matter still attract a great deal of attention. Take, for example, the successful career of Mort Künstler, whose work is now on display at the Southside Gallery.

Hailed today as one of country's most collected artists, Künstler started out as an illustrator for magazines like National Geographic and Newsweek and motion pictures like The Hindenburg.

Because so much of his work for these media required a combination of accurate representation and aesthetic value, it was only a matter of time before his work attracted the attention of important commercial galleries.

The subject of over a dozen books to date, Künstler's historical paintings cover the full range of the American experience, from the Mayflower Compact to the launch of the space shuttle Columbia. Yet, it is the period of the Civil War that is the focus of the artist's most significant and popular work.

In fact, a lavish volume entitled, "The Civil War Art of Mort Künstler" was published this year to provide an overview of two decades of creative effort.

Starting in 1982, when he was commissioned by CBS-TV to create a painting for the miniseries "The Blue and the Gray, " Künstler has focused more and more on what many historians feel was our country's most defining struggle. Over the years the artist has completed works for various historical museums, such as the Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institute, and historical films, such as the 1993 mini-series "Gettysburg" and the 2001 movie "Gods and Generals."

The current volume is divided into six chapters, one for each of the five years from 1861 to 1865 with an intermediate chapter devoted exclusively to the "three days that turned the tide" at Gettysburg. Of particular interest to South Carolinians however, may very well be the images inspired by events in our state.

These include a 1997 oil painting that commemorates Robert E. Lee's visit to Charleston in the fall of 1861 to offer advice on coastal defenses. In this piece, Künstler depicts the future Confederate icon on the balcony of the Mills House, reviewing a military parade organized in his honor. Contrary to expectation, however, Lee himself is not the focus of attention. Instead, the artist has chosen to highlight the contrast between the civilian crowd, in all its individual informality, and the local infantry company, marching in collective precision behind its Palmetto flag. Both groups are dramatically illuminated by street lamps in the growing dusk.

Lantern light competes with the night sky in another South Carolina image, one focusing on an event from later in the war. In February of 1864, the H.L. Hunley made military history when it detonated a spar torpedo against the side of the USS Housatonic, a ship serving as part of the Federal blockade of Charleston harbor.

This scene of the men gathered on the dock prior to the Hunley's last mission is marked by the same flair for the dramatic and the same extraordinary attention to detail evident in all of Künstler's works.

For this 2003 oil, the artist has incorporated his first-hand observation of the actual submarine raised from the harbor floor in the year 2000; he also includes a signal lantern, compass box, canteens and even a pocket watch recovered in the wreck.

In addition to books and limited edition prints and canvasses by Mort Künstler, the Southside Gallery is now featuring another work of historical interest. Recently Thom Abbot agreed to restore a 1898 map of Aiken produced by the firm of noted architect Willis Irvin, Sr.

Reproductions of this restored map, which indentifies most of the homes built by residents of Aiken's winter colony are on sale at both the Southside Gallery and the Aiken Historical Museum. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will benefit the musuem.

For more information on the career of Irvin himself, who designed some of our city's most imposing mansions, including Banksia, one can read the winter issue of "Easy Street Magazine" now on sale at the Southside Gallery and other locations.

Gallery business hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, one can call 803-649-6757 or visit the gallery website at www.southsidegallery.com.

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