The Mediterranean is an invented cultural space, on the frontier between North and South, West and East. Modern Art and the Idea of the Mediterranean examines the representation of this region in the visual arts since the late eighteenth century, placing the 'idea of the Mediterranean' - a cultural construct rather than a physical reality - at the centre of our understanding of modern visual culture.

This collection of essays features an international group of scholars who examine competing visions of the Mediterranean in terms of modernity and cultural identity,...