Publisher's Synopsis
With contributions from an interdisciplinary group of scholars, this volume explodes the idea of classicism as an unchanging ideal. The essays trace the shifting parameters of classicism from antiquity to the twentieth century, documenting an exhibition of seventy objects in various media from the collection of the Smart Museum of Art and other American and international institutions. With its impressive historical and conceptual reach-from ancient literature to contemporary race relations and beyond-this colorfully illustrated book is a dynamic exploration of classicism as a fluctuating stylistic and ideological category.