Choice Review

This book continues Ridgway's study of Greek sculpture from the earliest periods to 31 BCE, e.g., Fifth Century Styles in Greek Sculpture (CH, Jan'82). Her preface announces that "this is not going to be a pleasant book to read. It is not meant to provoke and disturb. . .{{but the author is}} compelled by intellectual honesty to challenge current opinion. Like my previous works, therefore, this book raises many question, casts many doubts, and reopens many issues that had been considered closed." Whether or not one agrees with her, these studies by Ridgway are always important, always stimulating, always worthwhile. The author uses the same agreeable format that has characterized her earlier works; she has tried to provide a book that is a "cross between a monograph and a handbook," useful to both the student and the expert, and she has succeeded. The longest chapters are on late fourth-century originals and third-century architectural sculpture but this reviewer particularly appreciated Chapter 4, "Portraiture--Alexander and the Diadochoi" and Chapter 8, "The Gauls and Related Groups." This book belongs in the same category as Andrew F. Stewart's Greek Sculpture (CH, Oct'90) but at a price that every library should be able to afford. -F. Lauritsen, Eastern Washington University