Uploaded June 2013 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
This week's interview features Dr Michael Squire of King's College London, talking about his current research project on the Imagines. This text, which was written by the third-century AD Greek author Philostratus the Elder, contains accounts of 65 paintings displayed in an (imaginary?) gallery on the Bay of Naples. Mike introduces us to some of the paintings described by Philostratus, including a representation of the Cyclops Polyphemus and an image of the Trojan river Scamander. He touches on questions of authenticity and fiction, ecphrasis and imagination, and explains how the images in Philostratus' gallery relate to one another, as well as referring out to other ancient literary texts including Homer and Sappho.
You can read more about Mike's work on Philostratus on the Leverhulme Trust website:
leverhulme.ac.uk/news/news_item.cfm/newsid/38/newsid/234
This week's interview features Dr Michael Squire of King's College London, talking about his current research project on the Imagines. This text, which was written by the third-century AD Greek author Philostratus the Elder, contains accounts of 65 paintings displayed in an (imaginary?) gallery on the Bay of Naples. Mike introduces us to some of the paintings described by Philostratus, including a representation of the Cyclops Polyphemus and an image of the Trojan river Scamander. He touches on questions of authenticity and fiction, ecphrasis and imagination, and explains how the images in Philostratus' gallery relate to one another, as well as referring out to other ancient literary texts including Homer and Sappho.
You can read more about Mike's work on Philostratus on the Leverhulme Trust website:
leverhulme.ac.uk/news/news_item.cfm/newsid/38/newsid/234
