The Hunt Museum Academic Programme is a twice-yearly series of lectures which look a wide range of topics such as the decorative arts, archaeology, heritage and culture. The course is renowned for the high quality of its lectures, and we strive to invite a mix of well-known speakers as well as up-and-coming scholars, from a range of different disciplines.

Classical Sculpture 500BC – AD476

Tuesdays, 23 October- 27 November 2012, 17:30- 19:30

The sculpture of the ancient Greeks and Romans represents one of the major arts of antiquity. It was diverse in its function, decorating temples and public buildings, commemorating the dead, the famous, a victory, or as an offering to the gods. Once it was rediscovered by the Renaissance its styles of idealized realism became the standard for most western art down to the 19th century, and it is therefore highly relevant to our understanding and enjoyment of much that we see around us. Through a series of six lecture, this course will explore the exquisite sculptural traditions of ancient Greece and Rome – from the archaic Kouroi of the Acropolis to the massive proportions of the Farnese Hercules and the triumphant Prima Porta Augustus.

For more information: email education@huntmuseum.com

Art and Architecture of High Renaissance Florence

February 2013, 17.30- 19.30

Building on the achievements of generations of artists and architects the High Renaissance in Florence witnessed a complete harnessing of the arts to serve the political and cultural aims of first the Republic of Florence and eventually the House of Medici. With artists as diverse as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bronzino, and Vasari the arts fully served State propaganda.