• Henley DFAS

Forthcoming lectures

The Glories of Byzantium Thursday 19th September 2024 10.45am and 2.15pm

Lecturer: Jane Angelini


The Glories of Byzantium
The importance of the role played by Byzantium as a link in the great chain of world history is an important theme. With its roots firmly in the Ancient World of Greece and Rome the Byzantine period – AD 330 -1453 – spans the medieval centuries.
 
 
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'I Saw a New Heaven and a New Earth' (Revelations 21): The Gothic Cathedral as the Heavenly Jerusalem Thursday 17th October 2024 10.45am and 2.15pm. Simultaneous transmission a.m. only

Lecturer: Emily Chappell


‘I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth’ (Rev 21) : The Gothic Cathedral as the Heavenly Jerusalem
This lecture will consider the aims and motivations of the master masons who built the great Gothic cathedrals of England and France.
We will study several key buildings: their architecture and stained glass, the influence of liturgical practice and religious symbolism on their layout and the importance of light and colour in their interiors. We will look at the technical challenges and how these were overcome by an extraordinary determination to build Heavenly Jerusalem on earth.
 
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The Invention of Photography and its Impact on Early Modern Painting Thursday 21st November 2024 (post AGM) at 10.30am only. Please note earlier time. Simultaneous transmission.

Lecturer: Dr Caroline Levisse


The Invention of Photography and its Impact on Early Modern Painting
Invented at the end of the 1830s, photography triggered a visual revolution. At the time, some feared that photography would replace painting altogether. It certainly did not but painting was not left untouched either.
Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1873 - Gustave Le Gray, The Brig, 1856
 
In this lecture we will consider how photography participated in changing the face of painting in the second half of the 19th century. It introduced a new relationship between reality and its representation that influenced painters such as the Realists and the Impressionists. It also encouraged painters to explore new directions. Freed from having to record the external world, painters could focus on more intangible things (such as emotions) or on formal aspects (such as colour for its own sake).
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The Christmas Story in Art Thursday 12th December 2024 10.45am and 2.15pm. Simultaneous transmission a.m. only

Lecturer: Sarah Ciacci


The Christmas Story in Art
In this talk we will look at works of art that depict episodes from the story of Christmas.
 
 
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Figures in the City: Picturing People in Post War London Thursday 16th January 2025

Lecturer: Jo Walton


Figures in the City: Picturing People in Post War London
In the years after the Second World War, London was dark, grimy and gap-toothed by bomb damage.
William Morris - Lord Nuffield and his Great Generosity 20th February 2025

Lecturer: Liz Woolley


William Morris - Lord Nuffield and his Great Generosity
William Morris, Lord Nuffield, probably did more than any other individual to transform Oxford in the t
The Fall into Knowledge: The Story of Prometheus and how his plight has captivated and influenced writers and artists over the years 20th March 2025

Lecturer: Mary Sharp


The Fall into Knowledge: The Story of Prometheus and how his plight has captivated and influenced writers and artists over the years
Prometheus was a Titan who, according to Greek legend, created the human race and then famously incurre
Persepolis: Art, Architecture and Ideology of the Persian Empire 17th April 2025

Lecturer: James Renshaw


Persepolis: Art, Architecture and Ideology of the Persian Empire
The Persian empire exploded into life during the middle of the 6th century BC and was the largest empir
British Art from Egg to Bacon 15th May 2025

Lecturer: Lydia Bauman


British Art from Egg to Bacon
Survey of a hundred years of Art in Britain from the Victorian Leopold Augustus Egg to Francis Bacon.
Soft Angelic Whispers: The Hidden History of the Medieval Harp 19th June 2025

Lecturer: Sarah Deere-Jones


Soft Angelic Whispers: The Hidden History of the Medieval Harp
Many people around the world today believe the harp to be an exclusively 'Celtic' instrument and are un
Hogarth at the Hustings: The Election Entertainment Series and the Birth of Political Satire Thursday 18th September 2025

Lecturer: Rupert Dickens


Hogarth at the Hustings: The Election Entertainment Series and the Birth of Political Satire
At the root of the long British tradition of political satire is William Hogarth’s Election Entertainme
The Empty Chair in Contemporary Art from van Gogh to Ai Weiwei Thursday 16th October 2025

Lecturer: Angela Findlay


The Empty Chair in Contemporary Art from van Gogh to Ai Weiwei
Angela Findlay: The Empty Chair in Contemporary Art from van Gogh to Ai Weiwei
A History of Inuit Art in the Canadian Arctic Thursday 20th November AGM

Lecturer: Henrietta Hammant


A History of Inuit Art in the Canadian Arctic
From religion to the environment, and colonial encounters to the power of the Western art market, this
Who is Santa Claus? Art from St Nicholas to Father Christmas Thursday 11th December 2025

Lecturer: Chris Bradley


Who is Santa Claus? Art from St Nicholas to Father Christmas
Nicholas was the Greek Bishop of Myra, a 4th century port in Anatolia.