If you want a more specialized study, you need to narrow your terms, especially if you want to trace development from early to late (1000+ years). For instance, just Art, or just Architecture. There are multi-volume studies on just Roman fresco painting. You might start with the Oxford handbook of Greek and Roman art and architecture (ed. Clemente Marconi, 2015). It starts with a few chapters on theory and secondary scholarship, then moves on to the makers, the materials, the process and patronage, the context, the function(s), reception, and approaches. There are some great contributors, including (but not limited to) De Angelis, Eric Varner, Paul Zanker, Holscher, etc. You can mine the bibliograph(ies) from there--they will contain virtually every key source on the topic.