How Art Made The World

Nigel Spivey reveals how the images which surround us today come from the ancient world. It's an epic journey spanning five continents and a hundred thousand years of history.

Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's

In this three-part documentary series Waldemar Januszczak discovers paintings, sculptures and architecture of the Baroque period. Starting from the square of Saint Peter's Basilica in Italy to St Paul's Cathedral in England.

How to Look at and Understand Great Art

Contemplate the "anti-art" spirit of Dadaism, its nihilistic yet humorous indictment of civilization and bizarre use of unconventional media. In the sensibility of Surrealism, observe its compelling focus on the subconscious and two substyles - dream imagery, with its juxtaposition of objects and settings, and "automatic drawing," eliciting unplanned images from the unconscious.

Arthouse

Channel 4 documentary series covering all branches of the arts.

Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA

A history of American art with Waldemar Januszczak

The Art Mysteries with Waldemar Januszczak

Art historian Waldemar Januszczak uncovers the secret meanings hidden within some of the greatest paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat .

La vita di Leonardo Da Vinci

La vita di Leonardo da Vinci — in English, The Life of Leonardo da Vinci — is a 1971 Italian television miniseries dramatizing the life of the Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci. The Golden Globe-winning miniseries was directed by Renato Castellani, and produced by RAI and distributed in the United States by CBS, which aired it from August 13, 1972 to September 10, 1972. Castellani wrote the screenplay. It was filmed entirely on location in Italy and France. The total runtime of the five episodes is nearly five hours.

Leonardo

A fresh look at the life and legacy of the iconic artist Leonardo da Vinci, positing that he was a gay outsider who used his work as a way of hiding his true self. Each episode will examine one of da Vinci’s artworks for hidden clues about a tortured artist struggling for perfection.

Art of Germany

In an absorbing study, Andrew Graham-Dixon tells the story of a national art that conveys passion, precision, hope and renewal. He juxtaposes escapism with control and a deep affinity with nature against love for the machine. The fascinating story takes us from the towering cathedral of Cologne, the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer and paintings of Grünewald to the gothic fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle, the Baltic landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich and the industrialisation lent expression of Adolph Menzel and Käthe Kollwitz. As the series progresses, it presents a rare focus on the cultural impact of Hitler's obsession with visual art, reveals how art became an arena for the Cold War and examines the redemptive work of the "visionary" Joseph Beuys – the most influential artist of modern times.

Lost Women Art - Ein vergessenes Stück Kunstgeschichte

Women write art history – but in turn are systematically ignored by it. LOST WOMEN ART tells the story of the suppressed female avant-garde and by doing so introduces a new art history.

Da Vinci inventions

Art Raiders: Caccia ai tombaroli

Through a combination of interviews and studio reconstructions, recount the gripping stories behind those who have excavated and stolen masterpieces.

Karin och Carl Larsson

Simon Schama's History of Now

In his most personal project to date, Simon Schama looks back at the dramatic history that has played out in his lifetime. Best known for writing history, he has lived a fair bit of it too. Born in 1945, on the night of the bombing of Dresden, Simon grew up as part of a generation determined to rebuild the world from the ashes of war. In this film, he reveals the stories of artists and writers who have been at the forefront of the fight for truth and democracy, often at great personal cost.

Art of the Western World

First broadcast on October 2, 1989, these 18 original 30-minute episodes provide a panorama of 2000 years of architecture, painting and sculpture, and studies the art masterpieces as reflections of the Western culture that produced them.

The Borgias

A a serial in ten parts on the lives of one of the most intriguing families in history.

Da Vinci's Demons

The series follows the "untold" story of Leonardo Da Vinci: the genius during his early years in Renaissance Florence. As a 25-year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.

Leonardo

Leonardo is a British children's television series broadcast on CBBC. The show is an adventure programme featuring a teenage Leonardo da Vinci starring Jonathan Bailey. The series is set in 15th-century Florence. A second series premiered on CBBC on 20 September 2012, starting with episodes one and two being shown back to back. For Series 2, actor James Clyde replaced Alistair McGowan in the role of Piero de' Medici. It was announced on 21 January 2013 that Leonardo would not be recommissioned for a third series.

Il furto della gioconda

A miniseries in three parts about the theft of Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" in 1911.

Rebuilding Ancient Rome

Supported by stunning 3D graphics, Dr. Darius Arya explains the purpose and architectural significance of ancient Roman buildings.