Ancient Worlds; New Horizons - HIOW Spring Study Course 2027 - all 3 events online via Zoom + recording

All 3 events of the 2027 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Spring Study Course

Ancient Worlds; New Horizons - online via Zoom + recording

Study Days include:

Wednesday 3 February 2027

Lecturer - Imogen Corrigen

Study Day Title - The Vikings

Synopsis:

The Vikings almost need no introduction. An image is instantly conjured up of ferocious fighting men, rampaging through our green and pleasant land, plundering, wrecking and desecrating. This is not untrue by any means, but the lecture seeks to find out if there were any other aspects to the “long-haired tourists from Scandinavia”. A problem with studying Vikings is that contemporary writing about them is often hysterical, although they were also seen literally as the wrath of God. In the end, there was a Scandinavian conquest of England before the Norman one, so who were these people, why did they come here and what did they hope to achieve.

Lecturer Profile:

After nearly 20 years in the British army, went to the University of Kent to study Anglo-Saxon & Medieval History and Art, graduating with 1st class honours, followed by an MPhil from the University of Birmingham. Works as a freelance lecturer across Britain and Europe as well as lecturing on small cruise ships and running study tours and courses on land. Has written Stone on Stone: the Men Who Built the Cathedrals, published 2019. A Freeman of the City of London, being a Member of the Company of Communicators. Advisor on memorials and monuments for Canterbury's Diocesan Advisory Committee.

Wednesday 17 March 2027

Lecturer - Rupert Willoughby

Study Day Title - Greek Salad - the Essentials of Western Civilisation

Synopsis:

The Ancient Greeks were the founders of Western civilisation. Rupert explains how key cultural achievements would never have occurred without the Athenian victory at Marathon in 490 BC. He describes the invention by Greek sculptors of the human portrait, their work being the basis of European art. The day concludes with a thrilling account of the Battle of Thermopylai in 480, with visits to Sparta and Delphi along the way.

Lecturer Profile:

Rupert Willoughby is a writer, researcher, lecturer, Latin-whisperer and impresario of ancient Greeks, with a passion for castles, lakes and uncovering the layers of the past.

A graduate with First Class Honours in History from the University of London (where he immersed himself in the ‘Byzantine’, or medieval Greek Empire), he is the author of Mountain Gunner: The Wartime Adventures of Tony Fowle, M.C., of the best-selling Life in Medieval England for Pitkin, and of a series of popular histories of places, including Chawton: Jane Austen’s Village, and the whimsical, yet scholarly Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture; one reviewer described this as ‘a most entertaining and enlightening enterprise. It makes you want to visit Basingstoke, and that is quite some achievement.'

Rupert is also an itinerant Classics master and he contributes regular obituaries to The Daily Telegraph. An experienced lecturer, accredited by The Arts Society since 2011, he is known for his light, humorous touch, his love of narrative and his vivid evocations of the past.

Rupert’s forefathers were Vikings and his foremothers were Tatars.

Friday 2 April 2027

Lecturer – Dan Evans

Study Day Title - Layers of Rome

Synopsis: This Study Day or Special Interest Day will build up your understanding of the cultural riches and richness of Rome. From Ancient Rome’s breath-taking engineering to Renaissance Rome’s obsession with beauty and brilliance and finishing with Baroque Rome’s stupefying theatricality. We will start with ‘Classical Rome and its Legacy’. The Pantheon, Colosseum and Basilica of Maxentius. We shall look at these three inspirational buildings each with a different form and function – these were the edifices that could be seen in ruin ever since the Sack of Rome in the 5th Century AD, and provide the basis for understanding Renaissance painting and sculpture. The second part will establish ‘The Rise of the Renaissance’. Frescoes by Fillipino Lippi in the Carafa Chapel, Michelangelo's St Peter's Pieta and Raphael's Stanze della Segnatura (including the School of Athens) allow us to trace the development of theology, philosophy and aesthetics with the emergence of the High Renaissance. We shall look at bright, intelligent frescoes and a sculpture of breath-taking brilliance. Final section is about the ‘Giants of the Baroque’. Caravaggio's painting in the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi, Bernini’s church: San Andrea al Quirinale and his emphatic sculpture the Ecstasy of San Theresa, are three of the most celebrated Baroque embellishments in Rome. A gritty series of paintings by a notorious sinner, a scandalous religious sculpture group and interactive architecture by the Baroque’s mastermind will allow us to understand the context and purpose of the art and architecture of seventeenth century Rome.

Lecturer Profile:

Dan is an educationalist with a passion for all things Italian. Dan is a Housemaster and Teacher at Cheltenham College, a full boarding and co-educational independent school established in 1841 and was formerly Head of History of Art at Wycombe Abbey School. He has been lecturing since 2001, and spent 9 years working as a senior lecturer, tutor and tour guide for Art History Abroad. He was voted the British winner of the World Guide of the Year Awards in 2008 and alongside his lectures and special interest days he also leads educational study trips for groups of friends to a range of destinations in Europe.

Fees

Tickets are £45 per household for all 3 days. The recordings of each day will be available for 7 days after each live event.

The days will run from 10.30am - 3.30pm.

The course is open to anyone - you do not have to be a member of The Arts Society to attend. Feel free to pass the details of any of our events on to others you think may be interested.

All proceeds from this event go to support art in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Area,

For more details of our events please go to https://theartssocietyhantsiowarea.org.uk/Special/Special.aspx

Once you have purchased your ticket you will receive confirmation by return, including the Zoom links to each day. The organiser will send a reminder with further relevant information on the Monday before each event.