The Elder Pliny's chapters in his natural history books 33 to 37 on metalwork, marble, painting, and gems, are the most important source for the history of Greek and Roman art and architecture. Our chronology of Greek art is dependent on this work, as is the stylistic characterization of many artists whose works are now lost.
Pliny was writing history in a historical context under Nero which gave his analysis of the corruption of Rome by the luxury learned from the Greeks, an overtly political tone. From a consideration of the wonders of nature, Pliny moves to sketch a theory of advancing moral decline and extravagance, in the course of which he gives a detailed account of six centuries of classical art and a fascinating sketch of the world of the rich Roman collector. Sections are devoted to the various buildings of Rome, and to the development of painting, including a chapter on female painters.
Dr. Isager's book is the first detailed study of Pliny on an invaluable resource for scholarsworking on Roman history and Greek and Roman art, as well as providing a general overview of art history in practice in the first century A.D.
