Classical Art: A Life History from Antiquity to the Present by Dr. Caroline Vout

On 23 May 2019, the Society for the History of Collecting hosted an event at Senate House in London entitled 'The Charisma and Collecting of Classical Art' to celebrate Classical Art: A Life History from Antiquity to the Present by Dr. Caroline Vout (Department of Classics, University of Cambridge). The event was organised by Dr. Tom Stammers (University of Durham).

Published by Princeton in 2018, Dr. Vout's book has received excellent reviews and is already being acclaimed as 'the' book for current scholars of Classics, Art History, Classical Archaeology and Classical Reception studies.

Dr. Vout was joined by a panel of scholars and curators: Dr. Ian Jenkins OBE (Senior Curator, Greek Section of the British Museum), Dr. Bruce Boucher (Director of the Sir John Soane Museum), Professor Caroline van Eck (Department of Art History, University of Cambridge) and Dr. Eloisa Dodero (Capitoline Museum, Rome). Individual presentations were followed by a panel discussion, which included questions and comments from attendees. This was a thought-provoking evening with lively debate on topics ranging from the challenges of museum display to 'What do we mean by Classical Art?'.

The event concluded with an informal wine reception during which the enthusiastic dialogue reflected how timely and relevant Dr. Vout's book has already proven itself to be.