Date: Thursday 10 October 2024, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Ian Cockburn

In the 11th and 12th centuries, the idea of a physical journey towards a spiritual goal was very popular. The 'camino' or pilgrimage road across Northern Spain became one of the most widely used, doted with Romanesque churches and monasteries designed to incorporate the veneration of saints into sumptuous architecture, religious sculptures and elaborate reliquaries, attracting many pilgrims - and their money.

Date: Thursday 14 November 2024, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Lydia Bauman

Since the early Renaissance, the female body has been paraded as a represetations of Venus, elevating it from a naked body to an idealised nude, given the changing ideals of beauty over the ages. It is only in the 19th century that the naked body sheds its classical veneer to adopt new guises, mostly in tandem with the development of avant garde art movements and reflecting the changing attitudes of society.

Date: Thursday 12 December 2024, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Giles Ramsay

Over 2500 years in the making, the great British pantomime is a very potent brew indeed. Mix the earliest Greek and Roman drama with commedia dell'arte and medieval morality plays, stir in a spring of 17th century masque, a dash of 18th century harlequinade and a hefty shot of Victorian music hall and hey presto, you have the modern Christmas panto! Oh no you don't ...

Date: Thursday 9 January 2025, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Chloe Sayer

The ancient Maya civilization reached its peak between AD 300-900. Great cities have been discovered across much of Central America. Mayan achievements in art and architecture were matched by an unsurpassed knowledge of maths, astrology, calendrics and hieroglyphics. Murals, ceramics and intricate stone panels provide an insight into their religious ritual, music, warfare, textiles and courtly life. Today some six million Maya carry on the traditions of their ancestors.

Date: Thursday 13 February 2025, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Jamie Hayes

The world of opera is full of remarkable contributors who left the stage in a completely different place from the one they found. In the 19th century Verdi, Wagner and Puccini revolutionised the art form in very different ways. From the romantic heart-breakers of  La Traviata and Rigoloetto to the mystery and magic of The Ring Cycle and the melodramatic tear-jerkers of Tosca and La Bohème, audiences enjoy their remarkable journeys and innovative theatricality.

Date: Friday 13 March 2026, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Jacqueline Cockburn

Rodin began working on the commission for The Gates of Hell in 1882 and it was not finished by the time he died in 1917. Taking inspiration from Dante's extraordinary work, Rodin created wonderful drawings and filled his magnificent doors with figures which would inspire his entire career. We will look at The Kiss and other depictions of characters condemned to Hell for their crimes and we will look again at the poem, one of the most important works of all time.

Date: Thursday 10 April 2025, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Raymond Burton

The lecture will reveal the top 20 most popular paintings in Britain resulting from polls taken up to 2020. There will be a brief description of the works that didn't make it, followed by a countdown of those that did. The audience will be asked to name their favourites and towards the end of the lecture, they will see how they compare with the poll results. The factors that make a painting popular will be discussed, as it does not necessarily rely on quality nor the status of the artiest.

Date: Thursday 8 May 2025, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Rupert Dickens

The long tradition of British political satire came to the fore again with the General Election. At the root are William Hogarth's Election Entertainment prints from the 1750s. His ruthless exposure of electoral corruption and hypocrisy sets the stage for later generations of satirists including James Gillray, Private Eye and today's digital artist Cold War Steve. Rupert will explain Hogarth's many jokes and references and reveal some surprisingly topical themes, from voter identifications to immigration.

Date: Thursday 12 June 2025, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Alexandra Epps

Tamara de Lempika's story is one of self-invention. From her beginnings as an aristocratic fugitive from the Russian Revolution to later taking Paris by storm as a successful artist living on her own terms, she has become an icon of the Roaring Twenties. Her unique style reflects the shifting morals of the age, representative of the wealthy and decadent European elite and boldly celebrating female sexuality. Few artists sum up an epoch quite as completely.

Date: Thursday 10 July 2025, 8.00pm

Lecturer: Simon Whitehouse

This lecture examines the lift and times of Oscar Wilde from his Irish roots to his student days at Oxford and his meteoric rise to the heights of celebrity. We will travel with hi, to the US and examine his starring role in the artistic and theatrical worlds of late 19th century London. We will visit his Chelsea home and some of his favourite West End haunts. We will learn how he became famous for being infamous ...