We review the most recent observational results on the formation and
evolution of early-type galaxies and their mass assembly by focusing on: the
existence, properties and role of distant old, massive, passive systems to z~2,
the stellar mass function evolution, the ``downsizing'' scenario, and the
high-z precursors of massive early-type galaxies.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; invited review at the Workshop on "AGN and galaxy
evolution", Specola Vaticana, Castel Gandolfo, Italy, 3-6 October 200
