Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Susan Woodford illuminates the greatness of classical art and architecture and conveys a sense of the excitement that fired the creative artists of the time. The Greeks were quick to challenge time-honoured styles and, stimulated by the problems that sometimes emerged from their daring innovations, they invented solutions that have been considered classics ever since. The Romans recognized the Greek achievement and built on it, adding a talent for organization and flair for architectural construction on a huge scale to create an impressive art of their own.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction
• Part I The Archaic and Classical Periods: Progress and Problems
• 1 Free standing statues
• 2 Greek temples and their decoration
• 3 Painting and painted pottery
• Part II The Fourth Century BC and the Hellenistic Period: Innovation and Renovation
• 4 Sculpture
• 5 Painting
• 6 Architecture and planning
• Part III The Roman World: Adoption and Transformation of the Greek Legacy
• 7 Roman statues and reliefs
• 8 Roman painting
• 9 Roman architecture: adaptation and evolution
• Epilogue
• Notes on artists
• Glossary
• Further reading
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Although presented as a basic book for beginners in a one-term course on Greek and Roman art and architecture, the book is hardly competitive in the market, even in the much less expensive paperback edition (1st ed., CH, Feb'87). There are 141 small illustrations, few of them in color, of works in sculpture, painting, and architecture, with priority given to sculpture. But the author's bias toward Greek works of art is more than evident in the nearly two-to-one division of the text, the emphasis on Roman "copies" of lost Greek masterpieces, and the sidelining of the spread of Greco-Roman artistic culture in the Hellenistic period and during the Roman Empire. The absence of the minor arts in miniature, of cameos and gems, and works in precious metals, so often the bearers of classical imagery, and of objects responding to popular taste (excepting the discussion of Greek vase-painting) gives a very distorted view of the range of Greco-Roman artistic production, and of the art market that served a variety of consumers. The list of suggested readings is very conventional, consisting of items often published many years ago and no longer representative of current views. ^BSumming Up: Not recommended. R. Brilliant Columbia University