Books explore various approaches within ancient visual and material studies, indicating a rich diversity in the discipline.
The books reviewed here offer a chance to look right across our discipline and each subfield’s priorities and approaches. Sometimes, from the perspective of another, these can seem quite alien though there are also common preoccupations. I trace some of those oddities and commonalties here, not at all as a criticism of any of these authors or their disciplines, but as a reflection on the variety of ancient visual and material studies today.
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Shelley Hales (2026) studied this question.
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