The emergence of the classical style in greek sculpture is an exciting book provocative in approach theoretically sophisticated and packed with lots of interesting ideas and observations neer has succeeded in giving us a very rich and suggestive vocabulary for describing what these wonderful statues do and how they affect their viewers and he may well succeed in transforming . Classical form is in hegelian terms presentation and revelation but what it reveals is a faith as it must because the subjects of classical sculpture were predominantly divinities or quasi divinities heroes and other mortals aggrandized by decease anthropomorphic as it was greek religion never demanded incarnation. Rewriting the history of greek sculpture in greek terms and restoring wonder to a sometimes dusty subject the emergence of the classical style in greek sculpture is an indispensable guide for anyone interested in the art of sculpture or the history of the ancient world. In this wide ranging study richard neer offers a new way to understand the epoch making sculpture of classical greece working at the intersection of art history archaeology literature and aesthetics he reveals a people fascinated with the power of sculpture to provoke wonder in beholders