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

by Sorcha Carey

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.

222 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

Sorcha Carey is Director of Edinburgh Art Festival, the platform for the visual arts at the heart of Edinburgh's festival offering. She previously worked as Senior Adviser: Arts and Creative Industries for British Council Scotland; and on three editions of the Liverpool Biennial, where she led a programme of publicly sited commissions from international artists and architects for Liverpool's year as Capital of Culture in 2008.

She is Chair of Festivals Edinburgh, the strategic umbrella organisation for Edinburgh's major festivals, and a trustee of Cample Line, an arts organisation based in Dumfriesshire.