Classical Art: From Greece to Rome (Oxford History of Art) - Softcover

"This is no conventional book on Classical Art, but a critique of Greek art through Roman eyes, analyzing the complexity of the Romans' reception of Greek pictorial and sculptural 'masterpieces, ' most of which are only known today through their Roman versions."--Richard Brilliant, Columbia University "Innovative, challenging, and never dull, this is a bracing departure from the norm. Readers will welcome its strong thesis and trenchant refusal to take received wisdom on trust."--Andrew Stewart, University of California, Berkeley

The stunning masterpieces of Ancient Greece and Rome are fundamental to the story of art in Western culture and to the origins of art history. The expanding Greek world of Alexander the Great had an enormous impact on the Mediterranean superpower of Rome. Generals, rulers, and artists seized, imitated, and re-thought the stunning legacy of Greek painting and sculpture, culminating in the greatest art-collector the world had ever seen, the Roman emperor, Hadrian.

This exciting new look at Classical art starts with the excavation of the buried city of Pompeii, and investigates the grandiose monuments of ancient tyrants, and the sensual beauty of Apollo and Venus. Concluding with that most influential invention of all, the human portrait, it highlights the re-discovery of Classical art in the modern world, from the treasure hunts of Renaissance Rome to scientific retrieval in the twenty-first century.