If You Give Me a Lily, I’ll Make It a Field

Literary Nonfiction. Art. In Satires, the Roman poet Horace poses the question: What forbids us to tell the truth, laughing? Why not approach teaching art history the same way? What forbids us from comparing Egyptian Triad sculptures to the music videos of Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe? Or discussing how the Hammurabi Law Code is one inch taller than Kristaps Porzingus, and thus could, theoretically, play center for the New York Knicks?

IF YOU GIVE ME A LILY, I’LL MAKE A FIELD is an attempt to teach the history of western art from the Paleolithic to the Quattrocento, laughing. This book touches upon topics as diverse as the vaginaphobia of the Roman Empire, the plan to move Stonehenge to Cleveland, the intoxicating splendor of ancient Egypt, and the sensible drunkenness of ancient Greece.