ABSTRACT
Following the tradition of the Greek sanctuaries, where the rooms for the display of picture-panels had been an almost standard feature (for example, the Propylaea on the Athenian Acropolis, the Stoa Poikile in the Athenian Agora, the Lesche of the Cnidians in Delphi), private art collections were formed in Rome. Testimonies about picture galleries in private or public settings are available from many sources (for example see Ebert, 1950 with references; Leach, 1982b, 1988). They were held in public or private spaces, and their presence was taken for granted. They formed a characteristic element in the luxurious mansions of the period, and were a manifestation of the aesthetic tendencies of the age - collection and appreciation. (Pinacothecae are described from the time of Lucullus (Varro, RR 1.2. 10) and Varro (RR 1. 59.2).) The elder Pliny (HN, 35.4; 148) was not very favourable towards those who collectedpinakes, although it was a widespread practice in his era. Imperial pinacothecae are also mentioned in an inscription dated in AD 153 (CIL VI. 10234 = Dessau ILS, 7213, line 2ff).
