Florence is possibly the city in Italy most associated with the Renaissance. This two part program explores the city's history, as well as the many great artists who orginiated there, including Giotto, Michaelangelo, Botticelli, Dante, and Machiavelli. We also visit several sites around the city that display famous masterpieces, such as the Neptune fountain in the Piazza della Signoria, which was sculpted by Bartolomeo Ammanati and Giambologna, and...

The 17th century was a time of religious conflicts, political struggles, and great scientific advances. This upheaval contributed to the Baroque period's relatively unrestrained, overtly emotional, and more energetic style that is reflected, to varying degrees, in paintings from all across Europe.This program examines:o Caravaggio's The Young Lute Player (circa 1596), from The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburgo Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal...

Part one of Baroque begins at St. Peter's in Rome, and details the birth of the Baroque tradition as it burst forth in Italy. This program concentrates on Rome - a hotbed of Baroque art and architecture. "The Eternal City" is where the Baroque began, and here Waldemar Januszczak explores the theatricality of St. Peter's cathedral and piazza and works by Borromini. He encourages us to examine the painted ceilings of the city, including that of the...

In his garden at Giverny, Monet created a vast canvas to research his landscape paintings. He had a Japanese bridge built over the pond, which he covered with water lilies. Anxious to render every variation of light over the bridge, water, foliage, and flowers consistent with the season and time of day, Monet worked simultaneously on several canvases and returned to them again and again. This program explores the 54 versions of Water Lilies from various...

Leonardo works as a military engineer, designs fanciful flying machines, studies light and shadow, investigates gravity, dissects cadavers, and pens treatises on a vast array of subjects, all while seeking the perfect patron. In Florence, Milan, Rome and finally France, he pours the sum of his scientific and artistic knowledge into a portrait that would become the most famous painting on earth.

Art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon continues his travels from southern to northern Spain, revealing a stunning and informative array of artworks. In this program, he journeys to the provinces surrounding Madrid-where, during the 16th and 17th centuries, many of the world's great artists flourished against a backdrop of imperialism and fervent Catholicism. In Toledo, El Greco's mystical style is studied; at the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe,...

Spurned and then nearly forgotten, El Greco went on to be hailed as one of Spain's greatest painters. This program describes the life of Domenikos Theotokopoulos, nicknamed "El Greco," and how his artistic legacy was rescued by a group of young Modernists who discovered his works in a museum in Barcelona. Emphasis is given to the revival of El Greco's reputation in the late 19th and 20th centuries by such painters as Rusinol and Picasso. Their rediscovery...

The Mystery of Jan van Eyck tells the stories of some of the Flemish master's most significant paintings-The Ghent Altarpiece, The Arnolfini Marriage, The Dresden Triptych, Portrait of Cardinal Niccolo Albergati, and Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy, to name only five-with quiet authority and deep respect. Composed of stills and highly detailed close-ups supported by informative analysis and period music, the program is itself a museum piece-and an...

Want to impress your pals with your Renaissance art knowledge? Our enthusiastic, art-history-loving narrator breaks down the context, key artists, and art features that defined the Renaissance period. Filled with fast-paced banter between our expert and his reluctant sidekick, this is a light, entertaining, and contemporary take on the topic, sure to resonate with students.

An art special produced in cooperation with the National Gallery of Art in association with IBM.