Art and Markets in the Greco-Roman World

Federico Etro ()

Working Papers - Economics from Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa

Abstract: We study art markets in the Greco-Roman world to explore the origins of artistic innovations in classical Greece and mass production of imitative works in the Roman Empire. Economic factors may have played a role, on one side fostering product innovations when few rival Greek city-states competed outbidding each other to obtain higher quality artworks, and on the other side fostering process innovations when a large integrated market promoted art trade across the Mediterranean Sea. The evidence on art prices is consistent with this. Literary evidence on classical Greek painting from V-III centuries BC (largely from Pliny the Elder) shows that the real price of masterpieces increased up to the peak of creativity reached with Apelles. Epigraphic evidence on Roman sculpture from I-III centuries AD (largely from inscriptions on the bases of statues) shows that the real price of statues was stable and largely equalized across the imperial provinces.

Keywords: Art markets; Ancient economy; Greco-Roman world (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul and nep-his
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Related works:
Journal Article: Art and Markets in the Greco-Roman World (2024)
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