How was Napoleon such an excellent self promoter? What was it that drove him? What on the other hand drove his wife? And what was it that made Napoleon and Josephine one of the most followed couples in history? These questions can be answered giving a true insight into their character by exploring the collections at the Chateau de Malmaison. The Estate, which was bought by the couple as their private retreat, away from the Pomp and Ceremony of the Official Residences, was made into a National Museum in 1905 amassing a huge collection of their possessions. Paintings, personal objects, complete room layouts, and some magnificent pieces of porcelain are just some of the things on display.

Nebamun was an Ancient Egyptian accountant working at Karnak Temple in Luxor in 1350 BC. He was granted the royal privilege of a rock-cut tomb with the most beautifully painted decoration. In 1820 eleven large fragments of painted plaster from this tomb were shipped to London, and put on display in the British Museum. In this lecture we will explore some of the most exquisite art to survive from Ancient Egypt – detailed scenes of daily life, steeped in fascinating symbolism. Lucia will explain the techniques of the ancient Egyptian artist

This lecture examines the work of one of the outstanding figures of 20th century sculpture, an artist who achieved an international reputation for her monumental works depicting the human figure, birds and other animals. Sadly she died in her early 60s but, from the first small sculpture acquired by the Tate Gallery (when she was a student of 21) until her death, she produced an astonishing body of work. Her bronzes varied in scale and feeling, from small, threatening birds to the life-size, tranquil Walking Madonna in Salisbury Cathedral Close. Frink’s work will be examined in the context of great British and European predecessors such as Henry Moore, Auguste Rodin and Alberto Giacometti, as well as her contemporaries, including Reg Butler, Jean Fautrier and Germaine Richier.

Georgians of all classes dined out in pubs, coaching inns, French ordinaries and confectioners. They also ate all kinds of street food and had an almost insatiable appetite for buns. On a jourmey through London we will discover the early morning drinks consumed on the street before dawn, ‘nuncheons’ served at coaching inns, Billingsgate dinners, confectioner’s cakes, syllabubs and ices, the proverbially thin ham dished up to diners at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, as well as the Jewish takeaway foods of the East End and even London’s first ‘Indian’ restaurant.

Our journey will be illustrated from prints, paintings and broadsides of the period, some long neglected, as a source for a forgotten but fascinating part of our Georgian ancestors’ way of life.

Salome is the quintessential femme fatale, or dangerous woman. The biblical figure and daughter of Herodias, seduced her step-father Herod with a salacious dance and in return he promised her the head of the prophet John the Baptist.

The depiction of Salome has always been a favourite subject throughout art history but during the 19^th century a Salome ‘frenzy’ occurred, reaching its zenith between 1860 and 1910. During this time, over 1000 versions of the seductress were painted in Europe.

This talk will consider the reasons for this obsession. Did her popularity reflect the anxiety of men as women gradually moved towards emancipation? We will look at the most sensuous and scandalous depictions of this enchantress – this talk is not for the faint hearted!

There have been pictorial representations of The Magi from as early as at least the 6th century. A vast array of artists have been clearly fascinated by the story and its possibilities when it comes to visual depictions. The lecture will seek to unravel the myth and the iconography behind the proliferation of the story of the adoration of the magi from its Eastern and pagan roots to its current Christian interpretation, illustrated with a variety of beautiful works of art, images made across many centuries that will illuminate this fascination as never before. The lecture will then look at the changing iconography behind the depictions of the story and the various meanings behind these changes in its iconography, not to mention the changes in the story of the adoration of the magi itself. It will then look at the origin of the names of the magi and the significance of their gifts to the Christ Child and then come to the issue of the inclusion of the black king, where he came from, why he would be included, how significant was he and how European artists tackled the problem of depicting this magus. Finally, it will examine the actual origins of the story and how much of a bearing does that story, as we understand it, have on the actual story written in the Bible.

There seems to be an avalanche of angels. It`s unusual for there not to be an image of at least one angel in our churches and cathedrals and yet we know very little about them.

Where do they come from and what are  they for? We can see a hierarchy in the Nine Orders of Angels, devised in the sixth Century, but what about the rest of them? Are they male or female? And what do they look like? Angels in white nighties with gold wings are a Victorian concept – the biblical ones were originally flightless – so where did they get their wings?