This is the story of the landmark series of 1969, including live footage and interviews in the series inspired by David Attenborough, and which involved the latest in colour film from the 13 countries visited.

Jonathon Conlin is an historian and author particularly interested in the history of great museums/collectors.

He writes: All my talks draw on my own research, allowing me to take audiences behind the scenes: sharing the surprise discoveries as well as the questions that we still haven't been able to answer. In 2024 I wrote the National Gallery's official bicentenary history, and appeared alongside Claudia Winkleman and Michael Palin in My National Gallery, a film about the National Gallery, shown on ITV and in over 300 UK cinemas. Previous books include a biography of the oil baron and art collector Calouste Gulbenkian and a comparative history of Paris and London. These books have been praised for their readability and their research by the Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Spectator, New York Post and other mainstream media. Alongside lecturing for Arts Society groups, I also teach, as Professor of Modern History at the University of Southampton. Born in New York, I studied History and Modern Languages at Oxford, subsequently moving to the Courtauld Institute and Cambridge for my MA and PhD. 

One of four titles springing from Timothy Schroder's book ‘A Marvel to Behold’, Gold and Silver at the Court of Henry VIII. This lecture looks at the king and his world through a rather special lens of the institutions concerned with gold and silver, the Mint (which made it into money), the jewel house (where the king’s plate was stored) and the Goldsmiths’ Company (which controlled the trade and supplied the royal goldsmiths). At the heart of all this sat Thomas Cromwell, who we all know now through Hilary Mantel’s novels, but who is shown in a rather different light in this lecture. 

Timothy Schroder:

Historian of gold and silver. Curator of Decorative Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Arts 1984-89. Director, Partridge Fine Arts 1991-7. Keeper, Gilbert Collection 1997-2000. Consultant Curator, V&A 2000-2010. Prime Warden, Goldsmiths’ Company,  2015-16 and 2019-20. Fellow, Society of Antiquaries 1994. DLitt (Oxford) 2013. Trustee, Wallace Collection  2013-2023. Trustee, City and Guilds Art School from 2020. Member, Westminster Abbey Fabric Commission  2018-2023. Publications include: English Domestic Silver (1988); Renaissance Silver from the Schroder Collection (2007); Gold and Silver in the Ashmolean Museum (2009); ‘A Marvel to Behold’, Gold and Silver at the Court of Henry VIII (2020); and numerous articles.

This lecture explores how Norse myths and legends have been portrayed in the decorative and fine arts over more than 1,300 years, to reveal quite how few depictions we have, and the sometimes sinister reasons we may not see them.

The talk begins with a brief overview of the pantheon of deities, the Norse creation story and Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. It then looks at Viking-age representations in wood, stone and metalwork and the effect of Christianisation. It continues with the rediscovery of Norse Mythology in the 18th century in age gripped by romanticism, then 19th century paintings and sculpture created in a period of Scandinavian  nationalism.  Finally, the talk turns to the appropriation of mythological images by the Nazi regime and more recent re-interpretations of Thor, Odin, Loki and the Valkyries in cartoon, Manga and film as well as conceptual art. 

Works examined include paintings and illustrations by Henry Fuseli and William Blake, academic history paintings from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, 19th century sculpture, and 20th century works by Carl Larsson, Hilma af Klint and Anselm Kiefer.

James Vaux:

James is a researcher and lecturer specialising in Nordic arts, culture, design and history. He has presented extensively on diverse topics throughout his career to demanding audiences across the globe, including CEOs and government ministers. His talks now focus on understanding art through its historic, cultural and political context.  James aims to question conventional art world narratives about painters, designers and movements, to unveil the hidden forces that lie beneath great art.

James took a law degree at Oxford with First Class Honours and qualified as a solicitor before switching career. As a managing director of the international bank Rothschild, he advised governments and corporates worldwide. He set up and ran the bank’s Nordic operations, living and working in Scandinavia and immersing himself in the countries’ arts, culture and history. James then gained an MA (Distinction) at UCL in Language, Culture and History (Scandinavian Studies). His dissertation was on Swedish design, and he specialised in landscapes, the Viking Age, politics and literature. 

Christmas would not be Christmas without music. And the story of what we perform, listen to and share at that most festive of seasons is both fascinating and transformative. Having had its roots in Rome during the fourth century with chants like Veni redemptor gentium, Christmas music has since gone on to become one of mankind’s most enduring cultural and religious phenomena. Whether it is heard as part of the liturgy or at the cinema, Christmas music never fails to trigger a sense of wonderment. Using carefully chosen sound recordings and film clips, this lecture will trace the history and impact of Christmas music from its Roman roots to the present day.

RAYMOND HOLDEN:

Born in Australia, Professor Raymond Holden AM studied at Sydney, Cologne and London and is both a critically acclaimed and a multi-award winning writer, conductor, broadcaster and lecturer. He has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Emilia Romagna and the New Symphony Orchestra of London, and has been published regularly by Oxford, Cambridge and Yale University Presses, the Royal Academy of Music Press, Hans Schneider Verlag (Vienna) and by ICA, EMI and Warner Classics. Professor Holden has appeared on BBC Television and Radio, Servus TV (Germany), RAI Television and Radio, ABC Classic FM, 3MBS FM, Vision Australia Radio, SRF (Switzerland) and Classic FM (South Africa), and has spoken at many of the world’s leading music and literary festivals, universities, conservatoires and research institutes. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List and is currently Emeritus Professor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music, London.