In-person Course

Europe is at a turning point in its history. Questions about its unity and diversity are more relevant today than ever. This series of talks will address the concept of

The last 50 years have produced some of the most exciting and powerful music, painting and sculpture in history, but to many people it remains an undiscovered world. This course

Money may make the world go round, but it is also crucial to the development of the arts. The Renaissance across Europe was financed by Church, commerce and conquest, and

A look at some great strivers of the late 18th and l9th centuries and their relationship with fame. Mary Robinson enjoys it; Fanny Mendelssohn hankers after it; Benjamin Robert Haydon

Most of London’s housing stock now dates from no earlier than the beginning of the eighteenth century. The forms that its dwellings have taken since the time of the Great

The concept of the solitary male genius has been a dominant theme of Western art histories. Wives, mistresses, partners and collaborators have often been chased into the shadows, even if

We will explore the fascinating and exacting world of C19th British horticulture and its development as a respectable, skilled Victorian trade which matured into a competitive gardening community with the

Ever since its inception two-hundred years ago, the National Gallery has been open to the public free of charge. Starting with a small collection, it has grown to just over

Over the centuries, composers and painters have often drawn inspiration from the same subject matter – a crow on a dead branch, a lonely traveller, a man contemplating the moon,

Portraits, piety, the classical world – it is the great celebratory themes which dominate our perception of the history of art, but the artist’s familiar world, both personal and social,

This course will study the social and cultural history of Japan through the changing roles of Women through the ages.  Most social history is recorded through the achievements of men,

Performance of all kinds – from opera and dance to the spoken-word and many other manifestations in between – has been a site of fascination for artists. With the advent