Rebels, Revolutionaries, and Rule-Breakers: The Artists Who Changed Europe (series of 5)

Series Summary

From the birth of realism in medieval Italy to the dreamscapes of Surrealism, this five-part lecture series explores the artists who defied convention, challenged authority, and transformed the course of European art, forever changing how we see the world.

Note that this series is organised in partnership with the New York Adventure Club and booking is via Eventbrite.

When booking for the live event it includes a replay, which is valid for the duration of the course.

7 Oct Giotto and the Invention of Realism

Before Giotto, European painting was largely symbolic and otherworldly; after him, art began to look startlingly human. This lecture explores how Giotto revolutionized medieval painting through naturalistic figures, emotional storytelling, and convincing space, laying the foundations for the Renaissance more than a century before it began. We will examine his groundbreaking frescoes and consider why later artists hailed him as the man who…