Pliny's Catalogue of Culture: Art and Empire in the Natural History

Series: Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture & Representation

One of the earliest surviving examples of "art history," Pliny the Elder's "chapters on art" form part of his encyclopedic Natural History, completed shortly before its author died during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. This important new work reassesses Pliny's discussion of art, revealing how art is used to expound the Roman imperial agenda which dominates the work as a whole.