9: The Vital Spark | Civilisations

1: Second Moment of Creation | Civilisations

Simon Schama looks at the formative role art and the creative imagination have played in the forging of humanity itself.

2: How Do We Look? | Civilisations

Mary Beard explores images of the human body in ancient art, from Mexico and Greece to Egypt and China.

3: Picturing Paradise | Civilisations

Simon Schama explores the depiction of nature. Simon discovers that landscape painting is seldom a straightforward description of obser...

4: The Eye of Faith | Civilisations

Professor Mary Beard explores the controversial topic of religion and art. How, and at what cost, do different religions make the unseen ...

5: The Triumph of Art | Civilisations

Simon Schama examines how traditions developed in the years following the Renaissances.

6: First Contact | Civilisations

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

7: Radiance | Civilisations

Simon Schama starts his meditation on colour and civilisation with the great Gothic cathedrals of Amiens and Chartres. He then moves to 16th-cent...

8: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations

David Olusoga explores the artistic reaction to imperialism in the 19th century.

9: The Vital Spark | Civilisations

Simon Schama explores the fate of art in the machine- and profit-driven world, looking at the rise of art as a tradeable commodity.