Michael Yonan didn’t come from a particularly art-oriented family, but from a young age he was interested in art, reading and music. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, he took advantage of the rich art resources in the Windy City, especially the Art Institute of Chicago. Yonan was recently appointed the first Alan Templeton Endowed Chair in the History of European Art, 1600–1830, in the UC Davis Department of Art and Art History.