The Green man in English Churches by Imogen Corrigan – Thursday 3 October 2024
More correctly called ‘foliate heads’, there was a proliferation of Green Man images around the year 1400. The lecture discusses how the image may have evolved from pagan and Classical times and what its purpose may have been. Although they may originally have been connected to ancient fertility rites, the ...
Copies, Curtains and Ways of Looking by Chantal Brotherton – Ratcliffe – Thursday November 7 2024
How does our experience of living with and looking at works of art today compare to the viewing experience of earlier centuries? You may never have given a thought to how you enjoy a painting, or what it is that you value in it, let alone wonder whether that enjoyment was ...
Dingley Dell to ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Vicky Bailey – Thursday December 5 2024
Ideal for Christmas time!This talk ranges from Dickensian Christmas stories to traditional Victorian Christmas activities and the inspiration for ghost stories at Christmas. Vicky Bailey Vicky became a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide in 2005, receiving an award as the 'Best Guide in Gallery Exams'. One of her main areas ...
Britain as Workshop of the World. The Founding of the Victoria and Albert Museum by Anna Warrillow – Thursday March 6 2025
This lecture focuses on the design impact of the Great Exhibition and the need for a 'legacy institution' in the form of the South Kensington Museum. We will look at the building as a work of art and explore the work of William Morris, Frederick Lord Leighton and other influential ...
The Influence of Japanese Woodcut on Western Art by Carol Wilhide-Justin – 6th November 2025
When Japan's borders were opened to the West in 1868 there was a huge surge of interest in all things Japanese in the West, particularly in Paris. Ukiyo-e prints were collected avidly by the leading Impressionist painters of the day who 'borrowed' wholesale from their asymmetric compositions, flowing lines, bright ...
A Very Ceremonial Christmas by Graham Jones – 4th December 2025
This very light-hearted lecture, looks at the various ceremonial events that take place around Christmas time. Carol services, concerts and even Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace and Windsor all play their part. How do the Chelsea Pensioners prepare and celebrate the festive season? All will be revealed so, relax, ...