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 of artworks in the twenty-first century.

Contents

Introduction
1. Painting Antiquity: Rediscovering Art
2. Moving Statues: Art in the Age of Imitation
3. Sensuality, Sexuality, and the Love of Art
4. Sizing up Power: Masters of Art
5. Facing up to Antiquity: Art to the Life
Notes
Timeline
Bibliographic Essay
Museums and Websites
List of Illustrations
Maps and Plans
Index