The Invention of Art History in Ancient Greece

In this book contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art are brought to bear on a series of fundamental questions in the history of Greek art: the causes and the cultural significance of the development of naturalism in classical Greek religious art; the sociogenesis and social functions of portraiture; the role, status and agency of artists; and the origins of art history writing in the Greek world. It is argued that artists sought to enhance their status and autonomy in the classical period by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation. This ultimately gave rise to the practice of art history writing, and the development of art collecting. The Greeks, however, developed their own very specific ethos of connoisseurship, advocating a rational involvement with art, and using the term \'art-lover\' only to stigmatise deviant sensuous and erotic attachments to works of art.

• Brings an innovative sociological perspective to bear on a series of central problems in the history of classical art • Fully illustrated. • Of interest to sociologists and students of comparative art, as well as classicists and art historians

1. Introduction: art and society in classical art history; 2. Rethinking the Greek revolution: art and aura in an age of enchantment; 3. Portraits and society in classical Greece; 4. Culture, social structure and artistic agency in classical Greece; 5. Reasonable ways of looking at pictures: high culture in Hellenistic Greece and the Roman empire; 6. Epilogue: art after art history.

\' ... the book is on the whole thouroughly interesting and stimulating ... [it will] futher the discussion about role and status of art and artists in ancient Greece. The book is beautifully produced and illustrated ...\' Bryn Mawr Classical Review