The invention of art history in Ancient Greece
Subtitle: religion, society and artistic rationalisation
By: Jeremy Tanner.
Series: Cambridge classical studies
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 331
ISBN-13: 9780521846141
Subjects: Art -- Greece -- History; Art and society -- Greece
Description: "The ancient Greeks developed their own very specific ethos of art appreciation, advocating a rational involvement with art. This book explores why the ancient Greeks started to write art history and how the writing of art history transformed the social functions of art in the Greek world. It looks at the invention of the genre of portraiture, and the social uses to which portraits were put in the city state. Later chapters explore how artists sought to enhance their status by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation which ultimately gave rise to the writing of art history and to the development of art collecting. The study, which is illustrated throughout and which draws on contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art, will prompt the student of classical art to rethink fundamental assumptions on Greek art and its cultural and social implications."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-324) and index.