This book focuses on quality rather than quantity in that it doesn't look at a wide range of Roman artifacts, but it does provide in depth analysis of those that it does survey. Great photographs though many are in black and white, which takes away from their immediacy.

This book is very limited in scope, focusing almost exclusively on sculpture and statuary in the Hellenistic and early Imperial Roman eras, with few examples (although those examples are indeed examined in depth). In this way the title is a bit disingenuous: this is by no means an introduction to Roman art in general, as paintings, illustrations, metalworking, mosaics, fibre arts, etc. are relegated to a distant backseat. Architecture gets a slightly broader discussion, with the strongest focus on funerary and commemorative architecture. Overall, a decent work in regards to the specific aspects it covers, but certainly not a general introduction to Roman art as a whole.

This book presents itself an introduction to Roman art, however the reader should be aware of its significant limitations in terms of scope and period covered.

The book focuses almost exclusively on sculptures. Paintings, metal works and mosaics are barely mentioned, architecture is severely limited to funerary monuments and commemorative arches and these are only scarcely described. As far as period covered, the book concentrates on the Hellenistic and early imperial period while late antiquity is briefly mentioned on the last chapter few pages.

The author presents a number of interesting readings of the “self-image” as seen by Romans themselves and the book contains a fine number of pictures supporting his interpretations. Worth a read if interested in the Roman Hellenistic period.

Gostei bastante mas trata-se apenas de um resumo de algumas das principais tendências da arte romana. As imagens são de grande qualidade e exemplificam perfeitamente os conceitos discutidos no texto. Só gostava que fosse um pouco mais aprofundado.