Europe’s museums are stashed full of Africa’s cultural heritage, much taken in colonial times. Some was looted, some traded. The museums say they’re the rightful owners but others say the objects belong in Africa. This program exmaines the points of view of activists and museum directors.

Vermeer, Beyond Time explores the life and work of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. In this documentary, Jean-Pierre Cottet focuses on not only his work, but also his family life. In 1675, overwhelmed by poverty, physically weakened, and humiliated, Vermeer dies at the age of 43. His rediscovery some 200 years later has seen his popularity soar, claiming both our hearts and our admiration.

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

Sister Wendy Beckett explores famous works of art in Florence, Mantua and Rome as she tells the story of the Italian Renaissance with its powerful patrons and artists, from Masaccio, Fra Angelico and Botticelli, Mantegna and Piero della Francesca, to the sublime Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. A BBC Production.

From cave painting to the present day, Giotto and Michaelangelo to Cézanne and Jackson Pollock, art lover Sister Wendy Beckett visits the world's art galleries to tell the history of painting. In “Two Sides of the Alps,” she looks at the Renaissance in Venice and Northern Europe, taking in works by Bellini, Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, Durer, Holbein and Bruegel along the way. A BBC Production.

This group portrait has come to symbolize the Golden Age of Dutch painting. Painted at the height of Rembrandt's career, The Night Watch goes beyond portrayal of characters and transcends conventions, juxtaposing eras and populations in a supreme homage to the freedom and might of Amsterdam, epitomized by this joyful militia company marching towards their destiny.

This program gives us Locke the man and the thinker. It states, explicates, and clarifies Locke's principal views by placing him in conversational settings as he returns from exile in Holland and in flashbacks with the Earl of Shaftesbury and others. Thus, what emerges is the character of Locke as well as his philosophical positions, which are explained against the political background of his time-when he himself was exiled, and friends, no more revolutionary...

Following a brief period of decline, the entrepreneurial and industrious region of the Low Countries rose again to become a cultural leader in the modern age. Despite its small and almost insignificant size it produced important forward-thinking artists like Van Gogh, Mondrian, Magritte, and Delvaux, who changed the face of art forever. Andrew's journey takes him to a remote beach in north west Holland that inspired Mondrian's transition to his now-renowned...

This program begins in 16th century England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the beginning of a cultural revolution. It was an age marked by the battle of conscience and power and, eventually, by Civil War. Through historic documents we discover that contrary to popular belief, William Shakespeare was born to a wealthy family and as a child received a rather privileged education. Yet as a teenager, his world is turned upside down when his family...