  Introducing partial sum rules for the optical multiplet transitions, we
outline a unified approach to magnetic and optical properties of strongly
correlated transition metal oxides. On the example of LaVO$_3$ we demonstrate
how the temperature and polarization dependences of different components of the
optical multiplet are determined by the underlying spin and orbital
correlations dictated by the low-energy superexchange Hamiltonian. Thereby the
optical data provides deep insight into the complex spin-orbital physics and
the role played by orbital fluctuations.
