The Department of History of Art was established in 1965-1966 Academic Year. In 1982 it was named as Department of Archeology-History of Art. In 1988 it was divided into two comprising History of Art and Protohistoria-Pre Asia Archeology. In 1997, the Division of History of Art became a Department. The Department consists of three main divisions under the names of Turkish and Islamic Art, Byzantium Art, Modern and Contemporary Art.

The main goal of the Department of History of Art is to promote a strong vision of art with an effective history of art education richened with wide cultural knowledge. Educating qualified art historians, who can use their knowledge effectively with sensitivity for protecting artworks and building qualified researches is of great importance to the Department.