Diego Velázquez, Philip IV in Brown and Silver, 1635. National Gallery, London.
Week two of this three week course (which coincides with the Royal Academy of Arts major exhibition Spain and the Hispanic World), with Dr Jacqueline Cockburn, a renowned expert in the art, literature and the language of Spain.
Study morning - includes two lectures, Q&A and a coffee break.
Lecture One | El Greco in Toledo
The re-conquest of Spain and the discoveries of the Americas paved the way for a rebirth of the arts. This lecture will consider El Greco’s arrival in Toledo in 1577 from Crete, his country of birth, via a short spell in Italy. Considering his Byzantine influences, we move on to show how he fell out with Philip II and the Church, often flouting the rules of Catholicism in quite dramatic ways, despite the menacing presence of the Inquisition. We consider his writings and his personal life and discuss why he is one of the most revered artists today; yet after his death he was unknown for 300 years, before early 20th-century artists such as Picasso revived him.
Lecture Two | Velázquez at the Court in Madrid
When Diego Velázquez moved to Madrid from Seville with his young family, his life changed and so did his art. Working for an often-troubled Philip IV, we can see changes in the King through the numerous portraits Velázquez painted of him. We will read the King’s letters and unravel the relationship between King and artist. We will meet the courtiers, dwarves, children, ladies-in-waiting and bodyguards who surrounded him as well as the royal family. The lecture will end with a discussion of his work, Las Meninas. This painting, with its extraordinary understanding of perspective and fabulous use of paint, will be analysed in terms of the artist’s own life and ambitions, and his relationship with the Habsburg Monarchy at the time, as well as his place in the Renaissance world of Spain.
You may also like to book for: Week One and Week Three of this course.
Proceeds from our ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live, or on-demand for three weeks afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.