Descriptions of sixty-five paintings in a Neapolitan gallery — mythological scenes brought to life through vivid rhetorical description. The founding work of art criticism as a literary genre.
Start ReadingThe first book of Philostratus' gallery descriptions, in which a sophist leads a young boy through a Neapolitan art collection, using each painting as a springboard for learned and sensuous ekphrasis.
The second book of Imagines continues the tour of paintings, covering mythological and genre scenes with the same blend of art criticism, storytelling, and rhetorical virtuosity.