The World of Ancient Art

'The World of Ancient Art' is an innovative exploration of the arts of antiquity, from the earliest European cave paintings to the coming of Christianity and Buddhism in the Old World and the arrival of the Spaniards in the New.

Dividing the ancient world into three broad climatic categories, the author focuses on common solutions that have been devised for the problems posed by the environment – a factor that also determined the nature of society and its arts. The solutions are shown to have been very similar worldwide within each zone, and the pattern can be demonstrated in the arts no less than in social organization.

Richly illustrated, and with detailed captions, the book covers the full range of ancient art produced across the globe – the fascinating similarities and differences over the millennia.

John Boardman was Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at Oxford University from 1978 until 1994. In addition to his work as an excavator and editor, he has published over thirty books on aspects of Greek art and archaeology, but especially also on Greek interactions with the non-Greek and the mutual effects. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, was knighted in 1989, and has received honorary doctorates from Athens and the Sorbonne.