Part of the Ancient Worlds: New Horizons series of Study Days

Layers of Rome

This Study Day will build up your understanding of the cultural riches and richness of Rome. From Ancient Rome’s breath-taking engineering to Renaissance Rome’s obsession with beauty and brilliance and finishing with Baroque Rome’s stupefying theatricality.

We will start with ‘Classical Rome and its Legacy’. The Pantheon, Colosseum and Basilica of Maxentius. We shall look at these three inspirational buildings each with a different form and function – these were the edifices that could be seen in ruin ever since the Sack of Rome in the 5th Century AD, and provide the basis for understanding Renaissance painting and sculpture.  

The second part will establish ‘The Rise of the Renaissance’. Frescoes by Fillipino Lippi in the Carafa Chapel, Michelangelo's St Peter's Pieta and Raphael's Stanze della Segnatura (including the School of Athens) allow us to trace the development of theology, philosophy and aesthetics with the emergence of the High Renaissance. We shall look at bright, intelligent frescoes and a sculpture of breath-taking brilliance.

The final section is about the ‘Giants of the Baroque’. Caravaggio's painting in the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi, Bernini’s church: San Andrea al Quirinale and his emphatic sculpture the Ecstasy of San Theresa, are three of the most celebrated Baroque embellishments in Rome. A gritty series of paintings by a notorious sinner, a scandalous religious sculpture group and interactive architecture by the Baroque’s mastermind will allow us to understand the context and purpose of the art and architecture of seventeenth century Rome.

You can book for the whole course or just individual days. The course consists of 3 days as follows and all are available in venue (Winchester) and online via Zoom:

• Wednesday 3 February 2027 - The Vikings with Imogen Corrigan
• Wednesday 17 March 2027 - Greek Salad - the Essentials of Western Civilisation with Rupert Willoughby
• Wednesday 27 April 2027 - Layers of Rome with Dan Evans