Portraits, sometimes crude in their realism or gripping in the sense of a living person, were one of the great achievements of Roman Art. The collection of one hundred portraits in the Getty Museum is one of the largest in the world. Dr. Frel surveys the history of Roman portrait art in an often controversial introduction on the purpose of portraits in Roman life and society, continuing his arguments through the catalogue analyses of the individual pieces. The occasion for the book was a loan exhibition of the portraits to the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa.

            This lavishly illustrated book presents a discussion of the principal views and the uses of the portrait in ancient times. The photographs include unusual views of the back and profiles of many portraits to show the care with which they were created and their damages and reworking over the centuries. The catalogue also includes five portraits that are late evocations of the antique and outright forgeries.