Parmigianino, Self Portrait with a Convex Mirror, ca. 1524, oil on wood, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

This lecture will begin by looking at the artist Raphael, the third in the trinity of High Renaissance artists, along with Leonardo and Michelangelo. Then will move on to the Mannerist artists who reacted against the perfection of drawing, anatomy, color and perspective of the High Renaissance trio.  These artists include Michelangelo, Pontormo, Bronzino, Parmigianino, and El Greco. Their style is off-center, often with no clear context or perspective, elongated figures, and, in a word, bizarre. 

Thursday, January 18, 2024

5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (Aphrodite), ca. 1484-86, Tempera on canvas, Uffizi, Florence

Join us for this lecture and meet the  jealous, vengeful, and proud Greek gods and goddesses. This lecture will start with the creation of the world, then the generation of the Titans. Followed by a discussion of the triumphant twelve Olympians:  all-powerful Zeus and bad-tempered Hera; Poseidon and some monsters; Athena and her stratagems; unfaithful Aphrodite along with Eros (Cupid), her unprincipled Son;  murderous Artemis;  golden Apollo;  Hermes the trickster;  wild and orgiastic Dionysus;  Demeter, sane and loyal; and the Underworld of unmerciful Hades

Thursday, February 15, 2023

5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Judgement of Paris, ca. 1636, oil on oak wood, National Gallery, London

In this lecture, we will sympathize with the semi-divine Greek heroes who are much better behaved than their divine parents.

These suffering, brilliant, and beautiful heroes are celebrated in the legends of Thebes (Oedipus), Mycenae (Agamemnon and Orestes), Troy (King Priam and Prince Hector;  Odysseus and Achilles), and Argos (Perseus); Heracles and his twelve labors belong to all of Greece; Theseus to Attica and Crete; and Jason and the Argonauts to the sea.

Thursday, March 21, 2023

5:30 – 7:00 p.m.