Students enrolled in art history courses learn about the subjects, forms, and purposes of art within each historical period that they study. They learn about the artists, the patrons, and the audiences who viewed the works of art. Students learn to accurately identify and describe art works, as well as to use the principles of art history in their critical writing about art. They also learn about related approaches of visual analysis which reflect changes in the discipline of art history, and which become an additional basis to critical thinking and writing about art.