The Mona Lisa is one of the most iconic paintings in western art. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in Florence in 1503, it accompanied him to France in 1517, eventually passing to the Louvre. But why did Leonardo keep this painting with him until his death? What is its place in the history of portraiture? And when did the Mona Lisa become an international celebrity? She has inspired artists and writers from Freud to Warhol, Dalì to Dan Brown, as well as songs and films. She went on a ‘state visit’ to Washington, meeting President Kennedy and Jackie; she has been vandalised and stolen. This lecture looks at the reasons for her fame – and incidentally, explains why she is smiling! 

 Paula Nuttall is a specialist in Renaissance art, both Italian and northern European, on which she has published widely, notably From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale, 2004). She has collaborated on major exhibitions including Jan van Eyck: an Optical Revolution (Ghent, 2020).  Before retiring in 2023 Paula was Director of the V&A Medieval and Renaissance Year Course, and has taught at – among others – the Courtauld Institute and the British Institute of Florence.  She now focuses on the Arts Society, her own online courses, and research. 

A look at the life of an opera singer behind the curtain, away from the apparent glamour. What are the challenges, pitfalls and consequences of such a life? Aspects of the talk are also illustrated by the live singing of a couple of operatic arias. This talk is designed to provide insights to fascinate not just opera fans but those who know nothing of opera too.

Tim Mirfin is an opera singer who has performed in all major European countries, Russia, US, Australia and the Middle East. He has given concerts in some of classical music’s most iconic venues, such as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Bolshoi, the Wigmore, Festival and Albert Halls. He also teaches singing, gives masterclasses, lectures on opera and the voice and runs a local community choir.  He studied postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music and National Opera Studio, previously reading law at Cambridge. He is passionate both about opera as an art form and also about the sheer act of singing. He is keen to share peeks behind the curtain on both apparently mysterious activities.

This talk combines the lives of the Astors, the Sackville Wests and the Rothschilds and their family history with the story of the gardens they have all created, despite their very different backgrounds, here in the English countryside.

Caroline Rayman has lectured for many years to universities and art organisations in America and on cruise boats. She was an official guide at the British Museum and has published articles on samplers. Her lectures range from the role of the royal mistress in history to more scholarly lectures on Frederick the Great of Prussia.  The story of Caroline's lecture The Mysterious Disappearances of the Ghent Altarpiece is to be told in a new film in 2025, entitled The Bold Thief.

We will follow the diamond’s extraordinary journey through time. From the volcano to being fashioned into a beautiful gem which has caught man’s imagination for centuries. What do you look for in a diamond? How do we value a piece of jewellery? These questions among many more will be explored through the history of Diamond Jewellery and hopefully start to unravel some of the myths and secrets of the diamond world. The lecture will also cover the challenge to natural diamonds, the synthetic diamond.  

Joanna Hardy is a gemmologist and independent fine jewellery specialist with over 40 years experience working in the jewellery industry. She began her career training as a goldsmith at Sir John Cass College before working as a rough diamond valuer and grader for De Beers. She then became one of the first women to be a polished diamond dealer in Antwerp and then joined Philips the Auctioneers in London. She moved on to Sotheby’s in Bond Street, London and was their senior jewellery specialist and auctioneer for fourteen years and since 2009 has worked independently. Joanna lecturers and writes articles for publications worldwide and is a published author. Joanna is a Fellow of the Gemmological Association, Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, a Trustee Board member of Gem-A, a Liveryman, a Court Warden of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, a member of the British Hallmarking Council and is a regular jewellery specialist on the UK television show BBC Antiques Roadshow.    

Although he died in total poverty, Modigliani remains one of the most popular artists of the 20th century. As a young man in Italy he was fascinated by Renaissance art in particular the elegance of artists such as Botticelli, Fra Angelico and Giovanni Bellini all of whom were to influence his later work. I discuss his short life in detail looking at his early development and his arrival and life in Paris from 1906 to his early death in 1920.

 Julian Halsby studied History of Art at Cambridge.  He was formerly Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at Croydon College of Art. Publications include Venice - the Artist's Vision (1990, 1995), The Art of Diana Armfield RA (1995), Dictionary of Scottish Painters (1990, 1998, 2001, 4th edition 2010), A Hand to Obey the Demon's Eye (2000), Scottish Watercolours 1740-1940 (1986, 1991), A Private View - David Wolfers and the New Grafton Gallery (2002). Interviews artists for the Artist Magazine and is a member of  The Critics Circle. A practising artist, he was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1994 and was Keeper from  2010 to 2021.

In the second half of the C19th, artists from all over the western world congregated in Brittany, forming vibrant art colonies in Pont Aven and Concarneau, and spilling over into adjacent towns and villages. Many of these artists moved on to visit or settle in Cornwall, with St Ives being the focus for a more international and gender-balanced group, and Newlyn becoming synonymous with British rural realist painting. This talk looks at some of the key artists who worked in both locations, including Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes, Walter Langley, Norman Garstin, Marianne Stokes, Helene Schjerfbeck and Christopher Wood.

Since graduating in History of Art from Nottingham University in 1986, Alison has spent her entire career working in public art galleries. Starting out at the Graham Sutherland Gallery in her home county of Pembrokeshire, she then spent ten years organising and curating exhibitions at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea, where she honed her broadcast media skills, including presenting a weekly Arts News feature on BBC Radio Wales. In 1999, Alison took up the role of Director of Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance. Here she became an acknowledged expert on the Newlyn, Lamorna and St Ives artists colonies (1880-1940).  She raised the profile of this area of art through initiating national and international touring exhibitions, and contributing to numerous publications and television programmes, and in 2013 was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Cultural Heritage in Cornwall.

From 2013-2024, Alison was Director of the RWA (Royal West of England Academy). Now based in Chepstow and working as a freelance lecturer, curator and consultant, she is also Chair of Bristol Museums’ Oversight Board; a Fellow of the Museums Association, and an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Bristol.

Join professional Rome tourist guide Stuart Harvey for a virtual stroll through the heart of Rome to discover some of the most iconic monuments of the Eternal City. 28 centuries of history can be divided into three periods - Rome of the Ancient Romans, Rome under the rule of the Popes, and Rome as the capital of a united Italy, and in an area less than a square mile we can admire monuments from all three periods. Ancient Roman temples and other archaeological remains rub shoulders with baroque churches. Splendid fountains adorn magnificent piazzas, and the 20th century monumentalism of united Italy adds a modern touch to this beautiful city.

The Zoom link will be sent out to all members a few days before.

Guests: £8 Members of TASTE £6
To book email: taunton@theartssociety.org
www.theartssocietytaunton.org.uk

The origins of our English Christmas stretch far back into European history, combining the pagan traditions of the Roman and Scandinavian winter festivals. Only in the 4th century AD did the Christian Church start to celebrate the birth of Christ. Since then these different cultures have co-existed, changing as the social and political landscape changed.  Music, art and folk customs associated with the season have all evolved, producing a rich tapestry of imagery and events that have appealed to every strata in our society.

Booking information available here

Roger Askew was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with an honours degree in English. He combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh. After retiring in 2003 he returned to the south of England. He is President Emeritus of The Stoke Poges Society.

Titian’s Venus of Urbino is just one of a number of Renaissance masterpieces that celebrate the beauty of the female form. But who were the women who modelled for such paintings? In an age where the church demanded celibacy but turned a blind eye to chastity, and where rich high class men married late to virginal women they were not expected to be faithful to, where did all that male desire go? The answer, in cities like Rome and Venice, was the birth of courtesan culture: women as cultured, clever and fashionable as they were lovely. This lecture names names and tells stories, with wonderful images to match.

 Sarah Dunant is a novelist, broadcaster and critic. She read history at Cambridge, then worked for many years as a cultural journalist in radio and television on such programmes as Kaleidoscope (BBC Radio 4), The Late Show (BBC 2), and Night Waves/Free thinking (BBC Radio 3). She has published thirteen novels, taught renaissance studies at Washington University, St Louis and lectured around the world at festivals and conferences. Her last five novels have been set within the Italian Renaissance. In the Name of the Family completes the story of the Borgia family and the remarkable period of Italian history in which they lived. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s A POINT OF VIEW and these talks, alongside her series on history for Radio 4, When Greeks Flew Kites are available on podcast or BBC sounds. 

This lecture looks at the history of horseracing from the late seventeenth century to the modern period and looks at the development of the sport in this country through its associated cultural material. Using the wealth of paintings, archive material and decorative art objects associated with and depicting the ‘Sport of Kings’, the lecture takes as its starting point the earliest origins of the sport including the development of Newmarket and the Jockey Club as racing’s ‘Headquarters’.

 Christopher Garibaldi is an independent Researcher. 2010–2019 Director of Palace House, Newmarket (National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art: 2008–2010 Co-Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. 1998–2003 Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art) at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British at Table 1600 to 2000. 1994–1997 Catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

One of Marc’s most popular formats, this spontaneous talk uses objects brought in by the audience to form an instant ‘Antiques Roadshow’ of history, anecdotes and audience involvement; also interspersed with artefacts from Marc’s own collections.

 Marc Allum is a freelance art and antiques journalist, writer and broadcaster based in Wiltshire. He is shortly to begin his 27th year as a specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and has appeared on numerous television and radio programmes. Marc regularly writes for mainstream magazines and is an author, antiques consultant and lecturer. He also runs a fine art valuation and consultancy service. Marc has his own unique style with interests ranging from pre-history to modern design and is a self-confessed collectaholic. He has a passion and reputation for divining the unusual through ‘a desire to connect with history through the interpretation and pursuit of objects and their origins’. Marc has lectured widely for many years to a number of different organisations in both the public and charity sector, including travel companies, The National Trust, The WI and many literary festivals including Cheltenham, Bath, Wells and Petworth. He has also lectured as far afield for the Arts Society in New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Malta and Penang. Marc is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in America, explore 25 iconic works of American art including Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic,’ Dorothea Lange’s ‘Migrant Mother,’ Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’.

 Marie-Anne Manico trained as an artist before gaining a PhD in Art and Critical Theory from the University of Sussex. Has lectured in art history for the City Lit, Tate Modern, the Course, Art in London, London Art Salon, Dulwich Picture Gallery, HENI films; also runs art history study tours abroad for ACE and is a Director of InFems art collective for whom she curates exhibitions and writes.

2024 - 2028 marks one hundred years since Winnie-the-Pooh was introduced to children of all ages in the four iconic books created by A A Milne and E H Shepard. First seen in When We Were Very Young (1924), Winnie-the-Pooh and the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood had their own adventures in Winnie-The-Pooh (1926), with Now We Are Six (1927) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), giving us more wonderful poems and stories which include the introduction of both Tigger, Kanga and Roo and Poohsticks. This lecture tells the story of how these much loved books were created by the genius of Milne and Shepard’s groundbreaking collaboration and why they remain embedded in our national identity.

 James Campbell has a BA in History and an MA in the History of Art and a particular interest in the work of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist E H Shepard (1879-1976). He has been lecturing for over twenty years, and has lectured across the UK and overseas to Literary Festivals, Art Societies, military museums, and to private clubs and community groups. He has been a Trustee of the E H Shepard Estate since 2010, as was involved in the ground-breaking Victoria and Albert Museum 2017 Exhibition marking the 90th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh.  His books Shepard’s War and The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh were published in 2015 and 2017 respectively. His new joint biography of A A Milne and E H Shepard - The Men Who Created Winne-the-Pooh: The Lives of A A Milne and E H Shepard - commissioned for the centenary of the Winnie-the-Pooh books will be published in September 2024 by Michael O'Mara Books.  

This lecture celebrates the 400th Anniversary of Charles I’s accession to the throne in 1625. Charles I’s obsession for collecting works of art began when as a 22-year-old prince he travelled to Spain and saw the magnificent collection of the Spanish king, Philip IV.  On becoming King in 1625 Charles purchased the fabulous collection of the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua which included works by Titian, Raphael and Andrea Mantegna’s astonishing series of paintings “The Triumphs of Caesar”.

 Barbara Askew has been a historian and London Blue Badge Guide since 1988. She is a Lecturer, Examiner and Course Director on Blue Badge Guide Training Courses and an acknowledged expert on Royalty and Windsor Castle. She is the only Blue Badge Guide accredited to guide the Albert Memorial and offers guided visits and walking tours linked to her lectures.

The son of a middle class provincial jeweller, this talk analyses the mercurial rise of Carl Fabergé in pre-revolution Russia who, by his late 30s, was producing incomparable jewels and objets d’art for the Imperial Court and bourgeois Moscow and St Petersburg. The presentation discusses Fabergé’s early life and influences, includes photographs of the shops and their workers and is comprehensively illustrated with objets d’art including hardstones, flower studies, works of fantasy, jewellery, objects of function and the famous Imperial Easter Eggs.

 John Benjamin is a jewellery historian, lecturer, author and broadcaster. Formerly International Director of Jewellery at Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers, since 1999 he has been an independent jewellery consultant on behalf of the private client network. John is well-known from his appearances over 30 years on BBC Television’s ever-popular Antiques Roadshow. He is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company, a Court Assistant and Founder Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and in 2021 was appointed Honorary Jewellery Adviser to the National Trust.

Whether drawing duchesses or portraying princes, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was high society’s leading portraitist. Flaunting a consummate technique, his luxurious canvases mirrored his subjects’ wealth. Yet beneath the dazzling veneer of works such as Madame X, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit and Lady Agnew of Lochnaw lurks a much rawer world by far. Sargent certainly scandalised Parisian society and the city’s Salon with his frank depictions of human sexuality, yet he was even more modern than they might have feared. This talk charts the artist’s life and his prolific output, showing that, like the era he came to represent, Sargent was always on the cusp of seismic change.

Gavin Plumley is a writer and broadcaster. Appears on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and contributes to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. Lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe. Recent appearances include Klimt and The Kiss in cinemas worldwide, and talks for the Hay and Cheltenham Literature Festivals, the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum and the V&A.

At 2:30 pm via ZOOM

With its huge variety of cultural influences from southern Italy, Northern Europe and from the East, Venice was designed by its inhabitants to be an exceptional place. Its music is exceptional too, and from 1550 to 1750 Venice was at the forefront of musical ideas in Europe. The lecture explores the music making at St Marks, the music of Venice's 17th century opera houses, and the important role played by the four Ospidali, which gave rise to the great concertos of Vivaldi and his contemporaries. The lecture also looks at 19th and 20th century compositions that were premiered in Venice.

Peter Medhurst appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts. He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

The link will be sent out to members a few days before.

Members Free

Members of TASTE £6, Guests £8

To book email taunton@theartssociety.org

Apart from the pear tree in which sat the partridge, there are no plants in the 12 days of Christmas according to the folk song. Sadly, even that reference is erroneous, because partridges are ground dwelling birds. And yet at Christmas we are surrounded by plants. This talk puts the record straight and rewrites the zoocentric song replacing partridges with poinsettias, and maids with mistletoe.

Timothy Walker read Botany at University College Oxford. After graduation, he worked as a trainee at Oxford Botanic Garden, the Savill Garden Windsor, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. In 1995 he was awarded a Master of Horticulture by the Royal Horticultural Society of London. From 1988 to 2014 he was director (Horti Praefectus) at the Oxford Botanic Garden. Between 1992 & 2000 the OBGHA won 4 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show London. In 2009 the Botanic Garden was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for providing imaginative educational programmes for adults, students, children, and the general public, thereby breathing new life into education for people of all ages and enriching their lives.

This lecture will trace the story of Banksy’s humble beginnings as a tagger on the streets of Bristol in the 1980s to one of the most recognisable names in the art world.  We will examine the reasons behind his incredible rise, looking at some of his famous stunts and discuss what his influence has been on the art market today and look at what his legacy, if any, might be. 

 Pepe Martinez qualified as a London blue badge tourist guide in 2011, graduating at the top of his class. Since qualifying as a guide he has specialised in the graffiti and street art of East London. Prior to becoming a London blue badge, he was a tour manager for 15 years, travelling extensively, all over the world.  

Diplomat, scholar, art collector, businessman and fluent in five languages, Peter Paul Rubens was also, by the age of about 35, the most successful international artist of his time. Looking in detail at many of the artist’s greatest works, this lecture traces the artist’s astonishing development over the first 15 years of his career, during which he transformed himself from an awkward Northern painter into an artist whose work was sought after by courts all over Europe, earning him the epithet ‘painter of princes, prince of painters’.

 Dr Lois Oliver studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and a PhD thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris 1815-1855. She worked at the Harvard Art Museums before joining the curatorial team at the V&A and then the National Gallery, where she curated several exhibitions and contributed to major re-displays of the collections. Currently Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Royal Academy, Associate Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, Lois also writes audio and multimedia tours for clients including the National Gallery, Royal Academy, Royal Collection, and Tate, and has appeared on BBC Radio and TV. Also a keen violinist, Lois plays regularly with Kensington Chamber Orchestra and the Endellion Festival Orchestra.

Van Gogh’s adult life was in grim reality a constant struggle against poverty, misery, ill health, both physical and mental, and loneliness. A man of conscience and self questioning, his early career and personal life seemed doomed to failure. Art provided his only outlet. Through it he was able to express himself; in his own words, “I believe that pictures will tell you what I am not able to express in words”. In this lecture, a selection of his paintings will take us through his short but prolific painting career and try to help us to understand the inner workings of Van Gogh’s mind. (The  National Gallery will stage a Van Goch blockbuster exhibition as part of its 2024 bicentenary celebrations.)

Carole Petipher is an experienced guide and lecturer on combined history and art tours in France with 20 years experience. Having lived and worked on a number of bespoke river vessels and converted barges there she has used them as a platform from which to research her lectures. She uses art in all its guises to explore the characters who shaped France and likes to delve behind the scenes to discover hidden truths. She also acts as a guide for a privately owned ancestral home in her native Chilterns.

Many of Britain’s best-loved country houses were created in the ‘Baroque’ period (c. 1660-1720). Visiting some of the most iconic houses of the period, including Chatsworth, Petworth, and Blenheim, we will meet the patrons who created them, and look at some of the highlights of their sumptuous interiors, gardens and collections, addressing the question: what is ‘Baroque’? 

 Dr Amy Lim is an art historian and curator, specialising in British fine and decorative arts from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. She is curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, and of the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham. She is also an exhibition researcher at Tate, contributing to British Baroque: Power and Illusion (2020) and the forthcoming Women Artists in Britain. Amy has degrees in History and Literature & Arts from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. She runs an online art dealership, and has published articles and essays on a variety of art-related topics from gothic garden monuments to female patronage.

We are still living amongst the infrastructure created by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 19th century. He changed the face of the English landscape with his ground-breaking projects including railways, bridges, tunnels, ships, and grand buildings such as the magnificent Paddington Station. He merged art with engineering and science and was a pioneer and a revolutionary - and he was brilliant. We'll look at the man, his background, his work, and his legacy.

Ian Swankie is a Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, he is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies

Brought up in a provincial town, his father a piano tuner and the owner of a music shop, Elgar was completely self-taught as a musician, evidence of the strong determination behind his original and unique genius. His path to recognition was hard and bitter.  He had to contend with the prejudices of the British musical establishment, religious bigotry (he was a Roman Catholic) and with the entrenched class-consciousness of late Victorian provincial society.  However, with his wife Alice as his staunchest supporter, from a hesitant start with pieces written for his local music societies, to cantatas celebrating Britain’s history, “King Olaf” and “Caractacus”, he finally achieved national and international success with his “Variations on an original theme (Enigma)” of 1899.  He went on to create two of the greatest of 20th century symphonies, the magnificent oratorio “The Dream of Gerontius” and two concertos, for violin and cello, among the finest ever written. This lecture, illustrated with many notable musical examples, explores the development of this contradictory musician, always wracked with self-doubt, and explains how his music expresses a quintessential Englishness.

 Roger Askew was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School and a choral scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with an honours degree in English. He combined a teaching career with professional singing in London, and after obtaining a further degree in Music became Director of Music at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College in Edinburgh. After retiring in 2003 he returned to the south of England.

This is a fully illustrated talk with in excess of 60 images exploring the relationship between the making of an image and the way in which it is perceived by the viewer. Further discussion around the eye and the brain being an extraordinary double act made up of visual references and intellectual interpretation. 

 Charlie Waite is one of the world's leading landscape photographers, he has lectured for 25 years throughout the UK, Europe and the US. He has held numerous one-man exhibitions in London, exhibited twice in Tokyo, and was awarded the prestigious honorary Fellowship of the British Institute of Professional Photographers, as well as a Direct Fellowship by the Royal Photographic Society. In 2007, he launched LPOTY - UK Landscape Photographer of the Year. Amongst many publications, the most recent includes Landscape; the Story of 50 Photographs (2005), and Arc & Line (2011). He was invited by the Royal Academy to exhibit in 2015's summer exhibition.

Would you ever expect to be tricked by a fake picture?

This fully illustrated talk looks at a few different categories of fakes and forgeries, three men who tried (and succeeded) in fooling the art market – at least for a while – and a few pointers about how forgeries have been devised over the centuries to try and trick the trusting into a trap.

Richard Kay is a Director of Lawrences Auctioneers in Crewkerne and the firm’s specialist in paintings, drawings, watercolour and prints. After leaving university in 1986, he joined Sothebys and spent eight years with them before moving to Phillips (now Bonhams) to be a picture specialist and Associate Director there. He joined Lawrences in 1999. His particular area of interest is British printmaking since 1900.

A Virtual Tour on Zoom 2.30 p.m.

An unforgettable journey to explore the highlights of the vast Vatican Museums collection, with a deep focus on the spectacular frescoes by Michelangelo Buonarroti and others in the Sistine Chapel. Professional Rome tourist guide Stuart Harvey will take you on a virtual stroll through the corridors and rooms to see ancient classical statues that influenced Renaissance and later artists, and also intricate roman mosaics, magnificent tapestries, and the beautiful frescoes by Raphael that decorate the private rooms of the 16th century Popes. We will end our journey in the Sistine Chapel, where Popes are elected in secret at Conclave. Here we can examine in depth Michelangelo's famous Creation frescoes on the ceiling and the magnificent Last Judgement and its deep symbolism.

Stuart is a “History and Art Communicator” of 30 years experience. He is a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide (qualified in 1998 - awarded “New Guide of the Year”) and also a Guida Turistica Abilitata della Provincia di Roma (qualified in 2010). He has worked in educational tourism since 1992, leading study tours all over Europe. Living in Rome since 2003, Stuart has developed a great love for the Eternal City and its many treasures. In addition to his primary career as full-time Rome tourist guide, Stuart’s entertaining and lively lectures and virtual tours bring the rich artistic and historical wealth of Rome’s 28 centuries to life for people all over the world.

The link will be sent out in early January

Guests: £7.50 Members of TASTE £5.00

Email: taunton@theartssociety.org

www.theartssocietytaunton.org.uk

Humans have been very good at recording how and what we eat through the ages and this talk looks at these themes starting with the frescoes of Pompeii and Herculaneum up to the modern day. The talk looks at the objects involved with the eating and presenting of food and wine beginning with a banquet in Pompeii where the guests seem to be wearing very little to the present day, where, in many houses, the tables are dressed with little other than a knife, fork and ketchup bottle. Even these, however, can be given a classy upgrade.

Clive studied on the Sotheby's Works of Art course and has now been working in the fine art world for 47 years. Until recently he was a Director of Woolley and Wallis, the UK's leading regional firm of auctioneers, in Salisbury, and was a specialist on the BBC Antiques Roadshow for 25 years between 1991 and 2016. Has also lectured on cruise ships as well as for many other groups, and recently published a major article in the Journal of the Decorative Arts Society on Betty Joel. He is now an independent art advisor.

The time Brian spent in Iran and Afghanistan during the 1970s, began to foster a passion for the wonderful woven art produced by nomads on basic ground looms. His subsequent visits were spent travelling and searching amongst nomadic tribes for these exquisite 19th century weavings, which have become harder to find and have now virtually disappeared amongst the tribes themselves. This lecture illustrates the woven art of the nomads as they moved over the lands they have travelled for generations. The audience will have the opportunity of seeing their way of life and looking at the 19th century rugs and utilitarian weavings, similar to those which I discovered during my forays into the different tribal territories. The lecture also brings to life some of the unforgettable stories and adventures Brian experienced whilst looking for them. 

Brian has been a dealer and consultant in antique oriental rugs and carpets since 1979 after his return from Iran. He is the author of Tribal Rugs - Treasures of the Black Tent which was originally published in October 1997; re-printed in April 2010 and a completely new up-dated edition in the summer of 2016. Brian is one of few western dealers to have lived and worked among tribal groups in remote areas of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1970s and then again, after the Iranian Revolution, in the 1990s. In 1990 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for his work amongst the Persian tribes. He has lectured for The Arts Society since 1986.

This lecture is a persuasive introduction to buying antiques and integrating and using them in today’s homes. The state of the antiques market and the different meanings of the word ‘value’ are considered, and we take a look at what current and future generations of collectors are buying, why they are buying it and how they are displaying it.

Mark Hill studied History of Art & Architecture, and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams, before moving to Sotheby's where he was a specialist in the Collectors' Department. He became a director of an internet company forming and running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions and was co-author of the internationally published Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller from 2002-17. He founded his own publishing company in 2005 and has since published over 12 books on specialist subjects in 20th century design and decorative arts. He has been a Miscellaneous expert on the Antiques Roadshow since 2007, and has co-presented three primetime factual TV series on antiques and collecting for BBC2. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

Tyntesfield, the one of the last great Victorian Country houses still intact with its original contents, was to be broken-up until being saved for the Nation at the eleventh hour a few years ago. Now owned by The National Trust, the story of the house, the family who created it and its dramatic rescue make this an entertaining, informative and very popular lecture. 

Matthew Williams holds degrees from the Universities of Nottingham and Manchester and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. A recognised expert on the work of the Victorian designer William Burges, Matthew was Curator of Cardiff Castle for nearly 30 years. His most recent publication is a major book Cardiff Castle and the Marquesses of Bute, published in 2019. A long-standing member of The Arts Society, Matthew has been a programme secretary and a chairman before becoming an accredited lecturer in 2001.

Eric Ravilious was only 39 when he died on active service as a war artist in 1942, yet he had already achieved amazing things. A brilliant wood engraver and designer, he is best known today for his haunting watercolours in which lighthouses, white horses, empty rooms and downland paths become marvels. Over the past decade James has explored many of these paintings in depth, teasing out stories and characters hidden in the wings. This entertaining illustrated talk illuminates the life and work of a playful, enigmatic artist, with plentiful examples of his work in watercolour, wood engraving, lithography and ceramics. The paintings are a delight, the Ravilious story funny, sad and full of surprises. 

Having studied History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, James Russell enjoyed a lengthy stint selling contemporary paintings and sculpture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an experience that inspired him to begin writing and lecturing on 20th century art. Of his dozen or so books, one was a Sunday Times book of the year, while his writing has been described by critics as 'insightful', 'informative' and 'enjoyably readable'. James has curated major exhibitions at Dulwich Picture Gallery and for museums around the country. He bases his lectures on wide-ranging original research into the subjects that fascinate him.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Russian culture had come of age. The reign of Nicholas II saw a creative explosion during which Russian creativity flourished as it never had before and was for the first time recognised abroad. Carl Fabergé opened a branch of his Petersburg jewellery business in London, Rachmaninoff performed in New York, Chagall exhibited in Berlin, and Diaghilev's long crusade to win recognition for Russian culture abroad culminated in the creation of the Ballet.

Rosamund Bartlett a writer, lecturer and translator whose work as a cultural historian ranges across the arts. She completed her doctorate at Oxford and is the author of several books, including biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy, and a study of Wagner's influence in Russia. She is currently writing a history of the Russian avant-garde. Her new translation of Anna Karenina for Oxford World’s Classics was published to acclaim in 2014. She has written on art, music and literature for publications such as The Daily Telegraph and Apollo, and received commissions from institutions including the Royal Opera House, Tate UK, and the Salzburg Festival. Her lecturing work has taken her from the V&A and the National Theatre in London to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and she contributes regularly to Proms events and opera broadcasts on the BBC’s Russes in Paris.

In this lecture we look at Oscar’s great literary successes, beginning with The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890 followed by four smash hit plays in three years.  We focus especially on The Importance of Being Earnest, one of the funniest, most performed and most frequently quoted plays in the English speaking world. Described as ‘A Trivial Comedy for Serious People’, it was of its time and yet ahead of its time, satirising the shallowness and superficiality of upper class Victorian society.  We explore some of the hidden elements which the audience then (and perhaps now) were not aware of and discover that for the author, this glittering triumph heralded the beginning of his own fatal final act…

Simon is a (recovering) actor, lecturer, presenter, Alexander Technique and voice teacher and award winning London Blue Badge guide. He has worked as a guide lecturer in house at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Opera House, the BBC and the National Gallery guiding both public and private tours. He is on the faculty of Ithaca College and also lectures for the Blue Badge Guide training course on the performing arts and English literature. Simon’s specialisms and passions are theatre, literature, fashion and art history but whatever the subject, Simon will weave a wonderful story from it.

William Blake: Poet, Painter and Philosopher; Rebel, Radical, and Revolutionary. Called a man without a mask by his friends, Blake was always less ahead of his time than outside it, creating his own mythology to tell the truths he perceived as the heart of all existence. Yet he was also a passionate participant in the world of his own day and his paintings and poetry, shaped and conditioned by life in England under George III and the long shadows of revolutionary Europe and America, are as particular and specific eighteenth century London as they are timeless and universal. Blake in his lifetime was called mad as often as visionary; his work remains ambiguous and contradictory: enjoyed by schoolchildren while continuing to baffle scholars. This lecture examines the phenomenon of William Blake and his paradoxical way of seeing the world, which challenged orthodoxy of all kinds and continues to do so.

Justine studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute. She has lectured regularly for Tate Britain, Tate Modern, V&A, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, as well as to Oxbridge and Bristol Universities, Christie's Fine Art, the Art Fund, and groups such as the Bradford on Avon Arts Association, Friends of Covent Garden and U3A. Publications include, amongst others, The Art of John Martin (2001), Michael Ayrton: A Biography (1994) and articles for Apollo Magazine and Modern Painters.

In 1565, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was commissioned to create a series of paintings for a dining room in Antwerp. The images, charting the course of a year, changed the way we view the world through art. Landscape had previously been a decorative backdrop to dramas both sacred and profane. But in Bruegel's hands the landscape and our interaction with it became the focus. Looking at paintings such as The Return of the Herd, Hunters in the Snow and The Gloomy Day, this lecture explores how Bruegel pioneered a whole new way of thinking about the environment and our individual places within a shifting cosmos.

Gavin is a writer and broadcaster, appearing on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and contributing to newspapers, magazines and opera and concert programmes worldwide. He lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Recent talks include the Royal Opera House, the National Gallery, the National Trust, the National Theatre, the British Museum, the V&A, the Southbank Centre, the Tate and the Neue Galerie, New York. His first book, A Home for All Seasons, is published in June 2022.

An extra lecture, held only on Zoom at 2.30 p.m. The link will be sent to members a few days before.

Join professional Rome tourist guide Stuart Harvey for a journey upstream along the River Tiber as it winds through Rome from the Tiber Island to Ponte Milvio just north of the city centre. Starting with the legend of Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome, and leading us through to the Unification of Italy and Rome’s new role as a modern capital city, the Tiber will lead us through 28 centuries of Roman history told by the historic bridges and riverside monuments. Roman Emperors, Renaissance Popes, Kings of Italy and some of the important and controversial political figures of the 19th and 20th centuries will feature along the way as we enjoy the beautiful views of "Er Biondo Tevere" ... "The Blond Tiber", as it is known in Rome.

Stuart is a ‘History and Art Communicator’ of 30 years experience. He is a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide (qualified in 1998 - awarded 'New Guide of the Year') and also a Guida Turistica Abilitata della Provincia di Roma (qualified in 2010). He has worked in educational tourism since 1992, leading study tours all over Europe.  Living in Rome since 2003, Stuart has developed a great love for the Eternal City and its many treasures. In addition to his primary career as full-time Rome tourist guide, Stuart’s entertaining and lively virtual tours and lectures bring the rich artistic and historical wealth of Rome’s 28 centuries to life for people all over the world.

Guests £7.50

For details on how to pay and for the link please email taunton@theartssociety.org

At Oake Manor Golf Club

The Medici were in many ways an unattractive family. Ruthless in pursuit of profit for their Florentine bank, which had branches in every city of the known world, they were greedy for success, merciless to those who opposed their ambition and vicious in their own internal squabbles. And yet without them we wouldn’t have Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’, the Fra Angelico frescoes in San Marco, Donatello’s ‘David’ or the majestic Michelangelo sculptures in the Medici chapel. The Platonic Academy wouldn’t have been founded and the doors for the Baptistry would never have been cast. This lecture looks into the turbulent history of this extraordinary family. The triumphs and tragedies, the intrigues and plots; the assassination attempts, the years of exile and their perpetual desire to glorify the family name in works of art, which was to result in some of the greatest achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

Douglas read Fine Art at Magdalene College Cambridge and has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980. In that time he has given over 8000 lectures to universities, colleges and art societies. He was the director of The New Academy of Art Studies for three years and is presently a regular lecturer at The Study Centre, Christie's course 'The History of Art Studies' and other London courses. Among his more improbable venues for lectures are the bar on the QE2, MI5 headquarters, the Captain's Room at Lloyds, and an aircraft hanger in a German NATO base. Overseas he has lectured in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain, and has taken numerous tours around Europe. He has written and presented various TV documentaries, notably the Omnibus programme on Whistler and the exhibition video on William Morris. Three one-man exhibitions of his paintings have been held in England and Switzerland. He has published five novels, which have been translated into 8 foreign languages, and his book on Monet, River of Light, has sold 30,000 copies in England, America and France.

This lecture provides a colourful introduction to the secret world of our 2000-mile inland waterway network and looks at all aspects of their exceptional artistic, architectural and engineering vernacular. Features range from sweeping aqueducts to tiny bollards; from colourful historic narrowboats to 'Roses and Castles' artwork; from grand World Heritage Sites to quirky listed buildings. A well-known architectural historian once described our canals as a 'poor man's art gallery'.

Roger Butler is a landscape architect and an experienced writer, photographer and lecturer. He has a particular interest in the unique history, architecture and traditions of our canal network and worked on some of the UK’s major canal restoration projects. He has also acted as a consultant to bodies such as Waterways Ireland, Natural England and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. He regularly contributes to waterway and heritage magazines and writes and provides images for a range of countryside and outdoor titles. Roger is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute. He lives near Stratford upon Avon and lectures to groups such as the National Trust, RSPB, U3A, history societies, etc. across the Midlands and further afield.

For the series and film Downton Abbey, Andrew was commissioned to make many jewels for the main characters and this inspired him to create a talk based on this unique period.  Jewellery and Fashion are often seen as two entirely separate and distinct fields of design, but this is very far from the case. In his talk, Andrew guides you through the extraordinary decades and events between 1890 and 1929, where the great couturiers collaborated with the finest of jewellers to produce jewels and clothes of outstanding quality and glittering opulence.  Along with this, he illustrates the clients and patrons who commissioned the jewels and shows how they were worn with their sumptuous gowns.

Andrew has had a passion for jewellery since he was a small child. In fact his enthusiasm can be traced back to the time when, at the age of three, he swallowed one of his mother’s pearl earrings having found her jewel box hidden from him in a cupboard. Two weeks after his 16th birthday, Andrew started work in London’s Bond Street, working for The Antiques Roadshow expert Ian Harris. Under his guidance, Andrew developed an appreciation for jewels that were valued for their quality of design and craftsmanship, rather than for how much the stones in the piece were worth. In 2002, the V&A commissioned a collection of jewels to accompany the resplendent Tiaras, Past and Present exhibition which became one of their most popular exhibits. The exposure gained by the show  led to Andrew's jewellery appearing in film... In the third series of Downton Abbey the characters played by Maggie Smith, Shirley Maclaine, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery  were all adorned with elegant tiaras, combs, earrings and necklaces designed and created by Andrew Prince.

Red is the colour of love and lust, royalty and ceremony, anger and danger, worn by scarlet women and the Madonna. The brightest crimson dye came from the blood of an exotic insect. According to Pliny, the fieriest red pigment was created by the combined blood of a feuding elephant and dragon! Turner chose Iodine Scarlet for the setting sun in his Fighting Temeraire. But the most vivid reds were often frustratingly fugitive. It had faded before reaching the wall of the Royal Academy. Where does the saying ‘Caught red handed’ come from? Why is scarlet not always red? Why did alizarin crimson become a political hot potato? And why is red a favourite of fast-food outlets? Join Lynne in this lecture to ‘See Red’! 

James Gillray may well be the greatest political cartoonist who ever lived. He did not invent the art of caricature, but in his hands it became a highly sophisticated and inventive aspect of the visual culture of his day. The breathtaking audacity and sheer rudeness of his work still has the power to make people laugh out loud, and has ensured that his images retain a freshness and vivacity which present day satirists still revere. Through his work, we can get a glimpse of the riotous society in which he lived, and see how the larger-than-life public figures and political personalities of the times were viewed by this master of disrespect. 

Best known for his outlandish appearances dressed as his feminine alter ego, Claire, Grayson Perry is now a core part of the art establishment, a Turner Prize winner, Royal Academician, popular broadcaster and colourful character. He’s possibly one of the world’s best-known contemporary artists. His works of ceramics, textiles, tapestries and prints are highly sought after. Often controversial, he tackles difficult subjects in a poignant yet witty way and holds a mirror up to society. This talk will examine Grayson Perry’s work, his exciting and thought-provoking exhibitions, and the unique character inside the flamboyant frocks.

Portmeirion is an extraordinary surprise; a colourful and delightful fantasy village on the coast of north Wales.   Created from the 1920s by the remarkable architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion was his personal defiance against the advance of modernism and what he saw as the despoilment of Britain. By the 1950s it had become the playground of artists, intellectuals, aristocrats and the merely rich. Regular visitors included H G Wells, Bertrand Russell and Noel Coward (who wrote Blithe Spirit at Portmeirion). Sir Clough’s daughter Susan created Portmeirion Pottery, which during the 1960s and 70s, was synonymous with cutting-edge ceramic style. This lecture looks at the place, its architecture and associations.

In this lecture Matthew also draws on some personal memories, as his uncle was Resident Director of Portmeirion for 30 years.

Raphael is often referred to as one of the three giants of the High Renaissance in Italy, alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, yet his fame and position in the canon of art history may seem hard to explain. He made no discoveries like those of his celebrated rivals: although undoubtedly a draughtsman of exceptional talent he made no great progress in the fields of anatomy, science and construction nor did he share the wide-ranging talents which Leonardo and Michelangelo demonstrated in so many disciplines. Furthermore, his career was short-lived as he died tragically young, aged 37. Yet in this relatively short space of time Raphael managed to move from humble initial commissions in and around his home town of Urbino to the coveted position of one of the leading artists at the court of the most important patron in Italy, Pope Julius II, for whom he created some of the most sublime and influential frescoes of the early 16th century. This lecture will explore how Raphael achieved this extraordinary rise in status, tracing the development of early works and influences to the masterpieces created in Rome.  It is linked to a major exhibition at the National Gallery in 2022.

2022 is the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and 2023 marks the 70th Anniversary of her Coronation, events which are unique in the history of our nation.

This lecture celebrates these events and looks at the evolution of the coronation ceremony from Saxon times to that of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It examines the different stages of the ceremony from the Recognition through to the Homage and explains the significance of the different items of the Coronation Regalia.

 Finally, the lecture gives an account of the ill omens and memorable mishaps which have occurred at coronations throughout the centuries and ends with the coronation of Her Majesty the Queen, the first to be genuinely witnessed by the people through the medium of television.

Join us on Zoom for some excitement and colour in the dark days of January. Flamenco is song, Flamenco is music, Flamenco is dance, Flamenco is passion and poetry, Flamenco is a way of dressing, Flamenco is a way of life.  It is a memory of a long ago past and the soul of the people of Andalucía. The video will look at the history of Flamenco and the origin of its name. It will focus on the three essences of Flamenco: Song, Music and Dance.  It is brought to us from The Arts Society Nerja.

This talk/demonstration consists of Jonathan’s collection of 18 woodwind instruments of the Middle Ages. These include reedpipes, shawm, bagpipe, double bagpipe, bladderpipe, hornpipe, crumhorn, cornemuse, kortholt, bone whistles, flute, double pipe, gemshorn, pipe and tabor, early recorders, portative organ and small hurdy-gurdy.

He will talk about each instrument and its evolution and its place in medieval life with tunes played on each one and images of them in the art and iconography of the age. It is an unusual talk that has something for everyone.

This lecture will follow our Christmas lunch at Taunton Racecourse.

When Augustus John died in 1961 he was described in The New York Times as ‘the grand old man of British painting and one of the greatest in British history.’ He was only in his mid twenties when, in the early 1900s, he was widely acknowledged as one of the most talented and promising young British artists – a Welsh rival, perhaps, to Gauguin or Picasso. This lecture explores John’s extraordinary life, including his early achievements, his position as one of the most exciting and outrageous young British artists before the Great War, his slow decline after it, and his troubled status as ‘the last Bohemian’.

There's more to the world of street art than Banksy, Hidden Canvases is a beginner's guide to the biggest art movement since pop art.  From train writing in New York to interactive technology that brings murals to life, the concept of un-commissioned public art is a very different beast to that which it once was.  Hidden Canvases explores the key stages in street art's growth examining the different elements and styles that comprise the scene with no rules.  From the international superstars to the local underground heroes you're guaranteed to leave knowing your Invader from you Aryz and who knows you might even start looking at the world a little differently.

The late Christopher Hitchens, who knew a thing or two about feuds, once wrote that a really first rate bust up requires one of at least two things: a clash of strong personalities, and a conflict of principles. The history of art is peppered with first rate bust ups: between the great early Renaissance artists, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, between Constable and Turner in the early 1830s, between Salvador Dali and the Surrealist leader, Andre Breton in the 1930s and, most recently, between the graffiti artists Banksy and ‘King’ Robbo, who painted out and amended each other’s works. There are many more. They are highly entertaining but they also tell us a great deal about key issues in art history.

‘Follow your desire, allow the heart to forget’, so sang the ancient Egyptian harpist as he encouraged the partygoers to relax and have a good time. The ancient Egyptians loved nothing more than to feast and celebrate whenever the opportunity arose. This lecture will explore the depiction of celebration in Egyptian art, from the elaborate temple festivals to banquets with family and friends. We shall examine the ancient art in order to explore the clothes and adornments worn; the food and drink consumed; the games played; and the entertainment enjoyed. We shall pay particular attention to the so-called ‘banqueting scenes’ on the walls of the New Kingdom (c1550 – c1069 BC) non-royal tombs at Thebes (on Luxor’s west bank). 

The landscape of Paris changed dramatically with the arrival of Louis Napoléon and his prefect, the Baron Haussmann. Ramshackle medieval streets were replaced by elegant apartment blocks and broad boulevards. Vast structures of cast iron and steel from the Gare du Nord to the Eiffel tower vied with Notre Dame for attention, and what were once sleepy villages like Montmartre quickly became as popular with pleasure seekers as they were with artists seeking cheap studios. Windmills that once ground corn were turned into dance halls and quiet spots by the river invaded by day trippers who now had access to the whole of Paris via its burgeoning railway network. All this and more besides is recorded in fascinating detail by artists such as Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Monet and Caillebotte to name but a few, so why not take a walk with the impressionists through the changing streets of this iconic city?

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Brian Healey is a senior modern languages teacher in an independent grammar school for many years. He has also enjoyed a successful parallel career since the 1980s as a professional artist and interior designer. Since 2006 he has been regularly appointed to a number of prestigious ocean and river cruise lines, either as resident artist, guest lecturer on art history or as destination speaker for more than forty countries. Most recently this work has successfully extended to art guiding through important towns and museums in France, Belgium, Holland and Spain. 

Daphne Du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock had much in common. Du Maurier is sometimes described as a romantic novelist but this is completely misleading. Like Hitchcock, she dealt with themes of loneliness, gender, fear, suspense and gothic imagery. In their work they built compelling and complex emotional landscapes for their characters. Although they never met, the pair produced three key cultural landmarks of the 20th century in Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and The Birds. In this lecture we will explore Hitchcock’s, The Birds (1963). We will closely unpack some of the essential scenes in the film and look at the masterful techniques both on the page and on the screen.

At the turn of the last century, Vienna was the capital of a vast empire and one of the most exciting artistic laboratories in the world. It produced painters such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, architects like Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the composer Gustav Mahler and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Looking at these and others figures in the context of the society in which they worked, this talk asks how and why the City of Dreams became a cultural hotbed around 1900.

Picasso is one of the most famous and controversial figures of the 20th century. Even today his work triggers mixed and often violent reactions from art lovers. This lecture aims to calm those fears. It follows his early career from his childhood in Spain, where his unique talent was first recognized, to the garrets and back streets of Paris where the poetic and wistful images of the Blue Period were transformed into the daring experiments with form and structure that became known as Cubism.  It examines the ideas and hopes that he nurtured, the friends and influences he met along the way, the technical problems he overcame and the single minded determination that enabled him to break every rule of painting, alter the course of modern art and yet remain a classical painter in the long tradition of western art.

The 'poor little rich girl' who changed the face of twentieth century art. Not only was Peggy Guggenheim ahead of her time, but she was the woman who helped define it. She discovered and nurtured a new generation of artists producing a new kind of art. Through collecting not only art but the artists themselves, her life was as radical as her collection.

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Alexandra Epps is an Official Guide and Lecturer at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Guildhall Art Gallery. She is a Pallant House Gallery Lecturer and qualified Guide to the City of London, offering lectures and walks about many aspects of the arts for societies, corporations and private individuals. Member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association and co-author of the book Lord Mayor's Portraits 1983-2014 (2015). Alexandra’s background is in design, having practised as a graphic designer running her own design consultancy for many years. BA Saint Martins School of Art, MA London College of Printing.

Mankind has exploited the medicinal properties of plants for thousands of years, yet the role of plants in modern medicine is still considered to be peripheral by many people. This talk attempts to put the record straight and to show that plant products are used every day by all of us to relieve pain and suffering, to heal wounds and cure diseases. This is a talk with a very wide appeal and relevance.

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Since 1986 Timothy Walker has given 1,500 public lectures. This was originally part of his work as director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden from 1988 to 2014. Botanic gardens are often described as living museums, and garden curators lecture about them in the same way as museum curators talk about their collections. Since 2014 he has been a college lecturer and tutor at Somerville College Oxford. Gardens are often thought of a place where science and art meet on equal terms. His lectures will investigate this relationship.

Illustrated with a variety beautiful works of art and images made across many centuries, this lecture will look at the changing iconography behind the depictions of the story of the Magi and the various meanings behind these changes in its iconography, not to mention the changes in the story of the adoration of the magi itself. 

Looking at the origin of the names of the magi and the significance of their gifts to the Christ Child.  Following this exploration of the fundamental roots of the story we will then come to the issue of the inclusion of the black king, where he came from, why he would be included, how significant was he and how European artists tackled the problem of depicting this magus when they themselves had little or no knowledge of such people of colour.  Finally, we will examine the actual origins of the story and how much of a bearing does that story, as we understand it, have on the actual story written in the Bible.   

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Leslie Primo holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. Was Visiting Lecturer in Art History at the University of Reading in 2005 and 2007, and gives lectures and guided tours, plus special talks, at both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. Also lectures at the City Literary Institute, and has presented a series of talks at the National Maritime Museum and the Courtauld Institute.

Was Joseph Wright of Derby Britain's answer to Caravaggio? He was a painter of light; candlelight, moonlight and fire. But he also painted another kind of light, the light of knowledge. His magical works give us an insight into a unique period of time; the British enlightenment. Wright of Derby shows us a society on the brink of change, when a shift was taking place between religious ways of thinking, to a more 'scientific' approach. His works raise poignant questions about ethics, morality and man's power over life and death.

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Stella Grace Lyons gained her BA in the History of Art with a 1st class in her dissertation from the University of Bristol, and her MA in History of Art at the University of Warwick. She spent a year studying Renaissance art in Italy at the British Institute of Florence, and three months studying Venetian art in Venice. Stella runs her own art history courses and she is also a regular lecturer in the UK and Europe for The Arts Society, National Trust, Contemporary Arts Society Wales (CASW), Classical Education Forum, WEA, and several travel companies. 

https://stellagracelyons.co.uk/

The lecture will be delivered online at 2.30pm using 'Zoom'.

The great critic, John Ruskin, believed that Turner’s later marine paintings included ‘the noblest seas ever painted by man’ and over the years few have seriously contested his judgement. One third of Turner’s oil paintings are of marine or seafaring subjects, and this lecture surveys the full range of his work in this genre. They include sea battles, fishing scenes, wreck pictures, the slave trade, mythological subjects and, above all, the sea itself in all its moods. It shows how Turner took a lowly and little regarded category of painting and used it to produce some of the most compelling images of the Romantic movement.

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Barry Venning is an historian of British art with a particular interest in the work of JMW Turner, on whom he has published widely, including the volume on Turner in Phaidon's Art & Ideas series, and several catalogue essays for exhibitions in the UK, Germany, Italy and Poland. He was the BBC's script consultant on Turner's Fighting Temeraire and has recently taken part (2013) in a BBC documentary called The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution. He has also published a study of John Constable's paintings. His interests and his teaching extend from medieval architecture to contemporary British art. 

Agatha Christie is undoubtedly the world’s greatest crime writer, her books sell over four million copies worldwide every year and there is a continual demand for new adaptations to be made of her work. She led a sheltered and privileged life in her native Torquay which was not dissimilar to the characters she invented. She was brought up in the comfort of upper middle class society and she too had mystery in her life. To find out more about this remarkable author who created Poirot and Miss Marple book this biographical talk. It will surprise and enlighten you about how she developed her talent for writing having never attended a proper school.

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Jane Tapley is a registered Blue Badge Guide and Special Events Organiser at The Theatre Royal Bath. She interviews actors, writers and directors, and lectures regularly to theatre going societies, the NT and history and fine art groups. She is author and researcher of theatre programme notes on Hamlet, Sheridan's The Rivals and Jane Austen's Emma. She is a theatrical landlady as well as home economist, acting as consultant to various TV productions of Jane Austen adaptations on food in the 18th and 19th centuries. She hosts and cooks period meals in her Regency house in Bath for the Jane Austen Festival and other literary groups.

Elizabeth I was the most remarkable woman of a remarkable age. Her reign was one of the great creative periods of English history – literature, music, art, architecture and overseas exploration all reached unprecedented heights. With passing reference to literature and architecture, this lecture will focus chiefly on the portraits, miniatures and music of Elizabeth’s court. The aim is to demonstrate great levels of artistic achievement and to interpret ideas and assumptions to recreate something of the energy, spirit, and confidence of this Golden Age. 

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Mark Cottle was born on the Isles of Scilly and educated at Truro School, Cornwall, and Birmingham University. His career has been spent in education and training at home and abroad. He has lectured at Exeter College on Medieval and Tudor history, St Mark's & St John's University College, Plymouth, and at Bath University on Anglo Saxon and medieval England. Currently runs two small companies providing training and study breaks.

How do opera singers make that noise? Why do they make that noise? An examination by a practitioner of this extraordinary phenomenon of human evolution, including an overview of some of the many other challenges opera singers face, interspersed with both lecture-live singing and recorded examples and anecdotes. You really don't need like opera for this to prove interesting.

In building the SS Great Britain, the second of his three great ships, Brunel successfully combined and adapted the very best of cutting-edge technologies to create the world’s first transatlantic liner – a true wonder of the Victorian age.

She was the first ocean-going steamship with an iron hull, and the first driven by a propeller. This extraordinary ship, launched in 1843 as the largest and fastest afloat, transformed shipbuilding and sea travel forever.

Ian's enthusiasm for his subject is clearly evidenced in this illustrated talk which tells the ship's remarkable story from her original design through the different phases of her working life. It also describes her incredible salvage and return to Bristol in 1970, and finally her restoration, preservation and 're-launch' as a multi-award winning museum of international renown.

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Ian Caskie was born and raised on Merseyside, where he spent many an hour watching the arrivals and departures at Liverpool’s busy Pier Head in the 1950’s and 60’s. This led to his lifelong passion for ships – especially ocean liners. He was a Primary Head Teacher and School Improvement Adviser in Bristol for many years, and has been a Visitor Services volunteer with the ss Great Britain Trust since 2007.

Contained in every work of art is a world of secrets – a coded language which locks the artwork into its own time and place in history. Added to this, artists have often deliberately obscured the true meanings of their work in symbols and iconography – complete worldviews and philosophies denied to the casual observer, often used at times when telling the real meaning might have resulted in disaster or even death.

This lecture looks for the clues which reveal the truth – the keys which unlock the secrets of the great artists and their greatest works, as well as the personal secrets which humanise the myths. It examines, in depth; Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, Van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, Picasso’s Guernica, Botticelli’s Primavaera and a small group of other world-changing pictures. 

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Adrian Sumner is a lecturer to universities and higher education institutions since 1973. Director, Development of the Arts in Northwich (1984-1990). Arts Development Officer, Chester City Council (1990-2009). Arts Development Officer, Cheshire West and Chester Council (2009-). Professional painter and illustrator (1973-2001). Undertaken tours and study weekends in UK and Europe, organised exhibitions for Chester City Council.

Faber & Faber: its Designs and History 

Since its foundation in 1925, Faber and Faber has built a reputation as one of London’s most important literary publishing houses. Part of that relates to the editorial team that Geoffrey Faber and his successors built around them - TS Eliot was famously an early recruit - but a large part is also due to the firm’s insistence on good design and illustration. This lecture traces the history of Faber and Faber through its illustrations, covers and designs. Early years brought innovations like the Ariel Poems – single poems, beautifully illustrated, sold in their own envelopes. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was an emphasis on typography, led by the firm’s art director Berthold Wolpe; his Albertus font is still used on City of London road signs. In the 1980s, the firm started its association with Pentagram, responsible for the ff logo. Along the way, it has employed some of our most celebrated artists as cover illustrators – from Rex Whistler and Barnett Freedman to Peter Blake and Damien Hirst. Slides will range from book covers, advertisements and photos of key individuals, to illustrations of the concepts behind the designs. The talk will also be peppered with personal insight and anecdote. Faber and Faber is the last of the great publishing houses to remain independent. As the grandson of its founder, I grew up steeped in its books. I was managing director for four years and I remain on the board. I am passionate about the firm’s success, and intensely proud of my association with it. 

Toby Faber has written two works of narrative history, Stradivarius and Fabergé's Eggs, published by Macmillan in the UK and Random House in the US, and given lectures associated with these two subjects at venues including The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Library of Congress and the Huntington Library, as well as a number of literary festivals. His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has been through investment banking, management consulting and five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board. He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music and a director of Liverpool University Press and the Copyright Licensing Agency.

Prof of Architectural Theory. Former editor Architects Journal and contrib to mags worldwide. Books: Thinking About Architecture, Key Houses of the Twentieth Century,The Prefab Home, High Tech Architecture, A New History of Modern Architecture (published by Laurence King) and monographs on work of Foster, Hopkins, Grimshaw. 

Dame Zaha Hadid died on March 31 st 2016 at age of 65. Architectural historians of the future will surely recognise her as one of the most important architects of the early 21st century. She was born in Iraq and her reputation was global, but she made Britain her home. This lecture tells the story of her career from the visionary projects of the 1980s, through the years of frustration when her designs were considered unbuildable, to the prolific crop of successful projects built all over the world in the last decade of her life.

Extensive lecturing to museums, art and historical societies, and the Art Fund. Guide, lecturer and researcher on sixteen tours to China. Lecture tours: twice to Australia (AADFAS), South Africa, and the USA. Lectured in Europe and on cruise liners in the Far East. Extra-mural lecturer at Leeds University and Harrogate College. Published Chinese Ceramics at Lotherton Hall. Council Member of Oriental Ceramics Society.

For centuries the outstanding ceramic production by China’s potters has impressed the Western World. From the first glazed pots – 1200 BC – and the large ceramic Terracotta Army – the famous Tang Horses and Camels – to the superb green Celadon ceramics and the elegant painted porcelains made for display. The lecture includes the background to the ceramics and details of where and how they were used. 

Kathy McLauchlan Graduated at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute. In 2001, completed a PhD thesis on French painters in Rome during the 19th century. A course director at the V&A and freelance lecturer specialising in 19th century art history. Has published catalogues and articles for the British Council and the Barbican Art Gallery. Currently head of the Visual Art Department, Morley College, London.

A Painter of Northern Light

Looking back on his work towards the end of his life, Peder Severin Krøyer recalled his work at Skagen, the Danish artists' colony at the northernmost tip of Denmark, and expressed his particular love for that time "when the sun is going down, when the moon is rising over the sea, hanging there, crystalclear, and the water, smooth as glass, reflects its light...." Krøyer was referring to the 'blue hour' of northern Scandinavian summer nights, when sea and sky appear to merge into a single luminous whole. This lecture explores Krøyer's life and work in Skagen, and evaluates the paintings that made him into one of Europe's most celebrated artists by the end of the 19th century.

Louise Schofield is an archaeologist who was Curator of Greek Bronze Age and Geometric Antiquities at the British Museum from 1987-2000.  Her book, The Mycenaeans, was co-published by the Getty Museum and the British Museum in 2007. She now writes, lectures and runs international archaeological projects - previously in south-eastern Turkey, Greece and Albania and currently in Ethiopia. And rather wonderfully she has just been appointed Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the American University of Rome.

Bertie Pearce has a BA (Hons) in Drama from Manchester University, and a Diploma Internationale from the École Internationale du Théatre, Jacques Lecoq. A member of the Inner Magic Circle, with Gold Star. Past experience includes lecturing and performing on cruise ships, and to U3A, historical societies, festivals, schools and colleges. In addition, has toured the world with a magic cabaret show and a one man show entitled All Aboard. Has written articles for newspapers and magazines on entertainment and theatre.

The Art of Illusion

From the beginning of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread. Egypt was the cradle of magic. Sorcerer Priests used scientific principles to create illusions for the edification of worship and to hold power over the people. Where there was power there was magic. Then there is the age-old skill of sleight of hand, which proves that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye’. Magicians were known as ‘Jongleurs’ lest they be sentenced to death for ‘witchraft and conjuration’ under the edicts of Henry VIII.

With the emergence of the Music Hall, Magic gained a new respectability and audiences flocked in their thousands to watch the extraordinary feats of The Great Illusionists. This gave birth to legendary tricks such as pulling a rabbit from a hat and sawing a lady in half. And if magicians guarded their secrets with their lives, how was the Magic Circle formed ? – Home to 10,000 secrets.

Even Today in our super technical age of ipods and broadband, the wonder and surprise of magic are as popular as ever, not forgetting the Harry Potter craze.

'Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion' is a whistle stop tour of the history of mystery from 3000 BC to the 21st century and be careful! – you might be amazed and bewitched.

This lecture takes place at The Racecourse, Taunton at 2.30pm. It follows The Arts Society 50th Anniversary Celebration lunch at 12.30pm. Click for more information and booking form.

Vemeer’s Quiet Interiors

The light comes in from the left and a woman reads or writes a letter or perhaps puts on a necklace. Not much happens in Vermeer’s paintings and yet they hold tremendous appeal for the 21st century viewer. These peaceful scenes will be studied in the context of their times. The customs of the day, paintings of every day life by other 17th century artists, symbolism and contemporary architecture all add to our understanding of these works. But Vermeer also keeps us guessing Part of the enduring attraction of his paintings is their elusive quality. They maintain their distance: conjuring up a quiet world but also one of mystery and ambiguity. 

A perspective on civilization's most enduring timekeeper.

Thomas Richard

Dr Thomas completed an MA in Canada in Development Studies, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin in History and Political Science. His career as an academic and as a political and institutional analyst in the field of International Development enabled him to travel widely in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He always sought to understand the arts and culture of the country or region he was living or working in since they illuminate the past and help to explain the present. Some of his lectures (Cobbett,Gillray and Hadrian) began with the history but have been developed for The Arts Society by emphasising the culture and art, architecture and cartoons of the period. 

Lois Oliver

Dr Lois Oliver studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, completing an MA in Venetian Renaissance Art and writing her doctoral thesis on The Image of the Artist, Paris

1815-1855,

She worked at the Harvard University Art Museums before joining the curatorial team at the V&A and then the National Gallery, where she curated the major exhibition 'Rebels and Martyrs' (2006) and a series of three touring exhibitions.

Currently Associate Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting

Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, Lois is leading a major research project on Manet and Music at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. She lectures for arts organisations throughout the UK, writes audio and multimedia tours for clients including the National Gallery, Royal Academy, Royal Collection and Tate, and has appeared on TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 5. Also a keen violinist she plays regularly with groups including the St Endellion festival orchestra.

Edouard Manet and Music

Music was a constant theme in Edouard Manet's life and art. His wife Suzanne Leenhoff was a gifted pianist, and regular musical soirées were held at the Manet family home. His pictures of musicians and their audiences range from major early canvases depicting itinerant gypsy musicians and Spanish dancers, through to paintings encompassing the full range of Parisian musical culture, from private performances to street entertainment, café concerts and the Paris Opera. Manet also designed cover illustrations for music composed by his friends. This lecture brings together Manet's art and the rich range of music that inspired him, from Spanish flamenco, to Haydn string quartets, Wagner piano transcriptions and café songs.

2 Mulberry Close, Dulwich, London SE22 OHZ

Tel/Fax: 02082994231 Mobile: 07977137295 loisoliver@btinternet.com

This lecture explores the impact of Captain James Cook’s three extraordinary voyages of discovery on European thought, art and science. Cook is widely renowned as an explorer, pioneering navigator and preventer of scurvy and his voyages provided unprecedented information about the Pacific Ocean, and about those who lived on its islands and shores. This was to have a profound influence on The Enlightenment. The lecture is lavishly illustrated with the exquisite drawings and watercolours of Sydney Parkinson, the glorious paintings of William Hodges and George Stubbs, the botanising of Sir Joseph Banks and the remarkable cartography of James Cook himself.

As well as being a NADFAS lecturer, Peter Warwick also lectures at the Defence Academy, National Maritime Museum, National Museum for the Royal Navy, Royal Institution, at schools and universities and on cruises. Additionally, Peter is an author and historian. He is also a major event organiser as Chair of the 1805 Club, the body which arranged the commemorations for Waterloo in 2015 and many other prestigious events.

A silver threat winds through Kosovo's history from the early silver mines mentioned in Dante through to the 20th century politics over Kosovo's mines which resulted in a war. This lecture will examine the beauty and history of this most delicate and intricate form of silver work.

Elizabeth studied at Magdalen College Oxford before training as a teacher and working in Lambeth, Hackney and Islington.  She moved to Kosovo in 2006 and worked there with the Ethnological Museum in Prishtina and co-founded ‘The Ideas Partnership’, a charity working on education and cultural heritage projects.

Eric Shanes is an expert on JMW Turner on whom he has written many books and is also a practising artist himself.

Having been Curator of Greek Bronze Age and Geometric Antiquities in the British Museum for thirteen years, Louise now works on international archaeological projects, principally in Turkey and Albania.

Zeugma is an ancient city of Commagene; located in modern Gaziantep Province, Turkey. It is an historical settlement that is considered among the four most important settlement areas under the reign of the kingdom of Commagene. It was named for the bridge of boats, or zeugma, that crossed theEuphrates river at that location.

Peter Medhurst’s work as singer, pianist and lecturer-recitalist has taken him all over the world, and in the last few years he has toured New Zealand, Australia (twice) and South Africa (four times), and made frequent tours in Europe, giving performances in Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris and Spain.  Closer to home, he has presented events at the Barbican, St John’s Smith Square, and the Royal Festival Hall on The Beethoven String Quartets, Mozart Operas,Vermeer’s Music Lesson, The Twelve Days of Christmas, The Golden Age of Vienna, and 18th Century Venetian Art and Music.  He has also directed presentations at the Wallace Collection, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A, linking the visual arts with the world of 17th & 18th century music making.

2012 was the bicentenary of the birth of Charles John Huffam Dickens. He brought into the world a staggering array of wonderful characters with orphans, starving children, misers, murderers and abusive school teachers among them. People such as Mr Mcawber, Fagin and Abel Magwitch remain in one’s literary psyche long after the books are put down. Largely self educated, Dickens posessed the genius to become the greatest writer of his age with 15 major novels and countless short stories and articles. In his lecture Bertie Pearce looks at the life and places of Dickens while interspersing the events with readings of his works. A truly Dickensian experience.

 In 2009 Bertie became an accredited Nadfas Lecturer and has toured extensively sharing his passion for Magic, Punch and Judy, Victorian Pastimes and Charles Dickens. His love of people and performance ensures that there is always a new and exciting gig around the corner.

Catherine Wallace is a freelance art historian, curator, writer and lecturer specialising in British 19th and 20th century art with a focus on artists who were based in Cornwall, England.

Catherine also has an in depth knowledge of commercial contemporary art and artists from Cornwall.

Catherine offers a wide range of services and delivers them with enthusiasm and charisma. Catherine is a creative and inspirational individual with 20 years experience in curating, writing, marketing and fundraising for the arts and heritage sectors.

John has recently retired from the University of Bath where he was Director of Studies in the School of Education. His wide ranging career in education and training has given him the opportunity to give lectures and presentations at conferences all over the world. 
He has developed highly effective communication skills based upon in in-depth understanding of how people learn and his ability to relate well to people of all ages and backgrounds makes him an impressive and confident speaker. He is now a freelance lecturer drawing upon his eclectic range of interests and enthusiasms. His highly professional digital presentations go well beyond the ordinary lecture with slides. All his talks are very well illustrated, are highly informative and presented with humour.
His highly professional digital presentations go well beyond the ordinary lecture with slides. As well as the talks he has developed from his professional background, John offers presentations on an eclectic range of topics that are derived from his diverse interests and enthusiasms such as antique corkscrews and the Shakers. All his talks are very well illustrated, are highly informative and presented with humour.

Naomi Motley has a degree in History and a postgraduate diploma in the Fine &
Decorative Arts, and has been involved with the art world for some 30 years in varied
roles, from working in an auction house to cataloguing for the Royal Commission on
Historical Monuments.

Sixty years ago, in September 1951, the doors closed on the Festival of Britain’s South Bank Exhibition, and a few weeks later the demolition crews moved in to clear its site on banks  of the Thames.  Today only the Royal Festival Hall remains as an original building of the time, as all the other evidence of the Festival was swept away, but Taunton Decorative and Fine Arts Society members will be able to recall the exhibition at their  lecture on ‘The Festival of Britain and its Design Legacy’ to be given by Sally Hoban on June 2nd.

The idea for the Festival was conceived during the war in 1943, when, with victory seeming a real possibility, thoughts began to turn to what the future for Britain might look like in peacetime.  The Centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851 was also an event to celebrate, so the new exhibition was to link the future and the past.  The scheme was backed by Herbert Morrison, the Labour Home Secretary in the wartime coalition government, and was developed by the post-war Labour government; it was disliked by the Conservative party of the time, perhaps because of these associations.  The Festival’s director was Gerald Barry, a one time editor of the left-leaning News Chronicle, whose talent for public relations was to contribute greatly to the Festival’s success.  He wanted it to be ‘a riot of fun, fantasy and colour’ – and that was what it was.

The development of Venice from the origins of the city to the architecture of Andrea Palladio at the end of the sixteenth century. The waters of the Venetian Lagoon have been both saviour and enemy. Their protection enabled the city to become a magnificent Republic, a leader in global trade and a highly successful world power. All of this is reflected in the
architecture her citizens created, from the delicate Gothic that so enchanted Ruskin to the elegant classicism of Palladio. Now those same waters challenge the city's very existence.

The Huguenots were Protestant silk weavers, who’d come to England in vast numbers at the end of the 17C escaping persecution in Catholic France. We will be looking at how they lived, worshipped and worked, and how their fortunes were shaped. We will look at images of the exquisite patterned silk garments they wove and see where one of their designers, Anna Maria Garthwaite, lived. The story truly is one which ends in rags as by the end of the 19C some weavers were literally starving to death in the garrets.

Chancellor, Bishop, Builder at Windsor Castle, Oxford & Winchester. The wealthy and powerful William of Wykeham served twice as Chancellor of England and founded Winchester College and New College Oxford. He led the remodelling of the nave in Winchester Cathedral in its current form. You can see his tomb and chantry chapel, where daily masses were said for his soul, in the nave’s south aisle.

The most notoriuous couple in the history of Byzantium and the art they insprired.  Theodora was empress of the Byzantine empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. She was one of the more influential and powerful empresses of the Byzantine empire. Some sources mention her as empress regnant with Justinian I as her co-regent.

BIOGRAPHY AND BACKGROUND

Ann Clements read History of Art and English at Manchester University and went on to be a researcher at the Witworth Art Gallery and later the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art.

She has been an associate lecturer at Surrey University and has taught on day and summer schools as well as lecturing at the V&A Museum, National Trust and the Art Fund.

As a NADFAS lecturer she has travelled around Britain, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and lectured for cruise lines such as Saga and Celebrity Cruises.

She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and for 20 years was a magistrate. Her expertise includes knowledge of European painting and painters spanning several centuries and Ann also recently published a book, The Bleak Midwinter on different artists’ responses to snow, which is also the title of one of her most popular lectures.