Pliny's Catalogue of Culture: Art and Empire in the Natural History (Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture & Representation) - Softcover

Carey, Sorcha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199207658 ISBN 13: 9780199207657

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2007

Synopsis

One of the earliest surviving examples of 'art history', Pliny the Elder's 'chapters on art' form part of his encyclopaedic Natural History, completed shortly before its author died during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. This important new work argues that the Natural History offers a sophisticated account of the world as empire, in which art as much as geography can be used to expound a Roman imperial agenda. Reuniting the 'chapters on art' with the rest of the Natural History, Sorcha Carey considers how the medium of the 'encyclopaedia' affects Pliny's presentation of art, and reveals how art is used to explore themes important to the work as a whole. Throughout, the author demonstrates that Pliny's 'chapters on art' are a profoundly Roman creation, offering an important insight into responses to art and culture under the early Roman empire.

About this title

About the Author:

Sorcha Carey is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in Classics at the University of Cambridge.

Review:

"Sorcha Carey goes beyond Isager's fundamental observations....The vision she uncovers is no simplistic one."--NECJ

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0199207658
• ISBN 13: 9780199207657
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 222