Art Seminars
Following the highly successful first cycle of Art Seminars (May–July 2026), the second cycle begins in October!
—Would you like to get to know the great painters of the Renaissance beyond the myths that surround them? What was their life like, who commissioned their works, how did their era shape their art?
The second cycle of Art Seminars focuses on the personalities, lives and work of the leading painters who shaped European Art from 1300 to 1600.
Rather than viewing these artists through the myths that developed around them, we examine them within the material and social realities of their time: as skilled craftsmen and members of tightly regulated guilds, navigating the demands of contracts and the agendas of their patrons—bankers, popes and rulers—as well as the major political upheavals of the period. In doing so, we trace the foundations of a new European art shaped by the values of Renaissance humanism.
From the early frescoes of Florence and the meticulous precision of Northern Europe to the atmospheric light and colour of Venice and Caravaggio’s dramatic break with tradition, we follow the evolution of Renaissance painting through the artists who shaped it.
The programme is open to teenagers and adults of all ages, cultural-sector professionals, educators and anyone interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of Renaissance art. No prior knowledge is required.
Upon completion of Cycle B, participants who attend all nine sessions will receive a Certificate of Attendance.
Session Programme
every Wednesday 6–8 pm | Starting 21 October 2026
1. The Dawn of the Renaissance: From Byzantium to Giotto
Key artists: Cimabue, Giotto, Duccio
2. Early Florence: Mathematics, Geometry and Space
Key artists: Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Brunelleschi
3. Medici Florence: Ancient Myths, Neoplatonism and Ideal Beauty
Key artists: Sandro Botticelli, Fra Filippo Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio
4. The Renaissance of the North: Oil Painting and the Realism of Detail
Key artists: Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Albrecht Dürer
5. Leonardo da Vinci: Art as Science
Key artist: Leonardo da Vinci
6. Michelangelo & Raffaello: The Intensity and Harmony of Rome
Key artists: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raffaello Sanzio
7. The Birth of the Venetian School: Light, Trade and the Canvas
Key artists: Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Vittore Carpaccio
8. The Height of Venice: The Miracle of Colour
Key artists: Tiziano, Tintoretto, Veronese
9. Breaking with Harmony: From Mannerism to Caravaggio and the Legacy of the Renaissance into the 17th Century Key artists: Jacopo Pontormo, El Greco, Caravaggio
Suggested Bibliography
(available at the Fougaro Library)
E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art (MIET) | Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Nefeli Publications) | Heinrich Wölfflin, Classic Art: An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance (Kanaki Publications) | Arnold Hauser, The Social History of Art – Volume 2: Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque (Kalvos Publications) | Erwin Panofsky, Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance (Nefeli Publications)
