The Art of Durer: a journey into the the man and his world by Shirley Smith, 1 February

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Albrecht was a painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist, and is regarded as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance.  But he was also the first artist north of the Alps to paint a signed self portrait while his watercolours are the first autonomous landscape paintings.  This lecture by Shirley Smith will study the works of this master which remain icons to this day.

Shirley Smith graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first-class honour’s degree in the History of Art, specialising in the Italian and northern renaissance.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a part time lecturer for the University of East Anglia and for the department of continuing education of the University of Cambridge.  She has run study days and certificate courses as well as residential weekend courses.

Medieval Embroidery: Bayeux Tapestry to Opus Angelicum – Susan Kay-Williams, 4 January

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Susan explores some truly amazing pieces of embroidery from 10th century metal thread work in St Cuthbert’s stole to the Bayeux Tapestry and on to the high point of English embroidery Opus Angilcanum, meaning English work, which was sought after by Popes and monarchs. 

Susan puts these pieces in to a wider social context while unpacking the materials and techniques and in some cases the people involved.

Dr Susan Kay-Williams

 

Cremona & The Golden Age of Violin Making by Toby Faber, 2 November

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For about two hundred years until the middle of the eighteenth century, workshops in the small northern Italian town of Cremona produced the violins and other string instruments which remain the most desirable in the world.

This lecture traces the story of that golden age, beginning with Andrea Amati in the 1560s, and following it through the generations to the death of Antonio Stradivari in 1737.

It will talk about the shape of the violin, the principles behind it, the methods used in its construction and the innovations made by successive makers before Stradivari brought the form to perfection. It will address the question of why techniques have been lost and whether they can ever be recovered.

It will introduce some of Cremona’s celebrated customers: not just the most famous violinists of their era, but also Galileo Galilei and royal patrons like Catherine de Medici, Queen of France. Illustrated with diagrams, with pictures of Cremona, people and violins, and with some recorded music. 

Toby Faber

Toby is an experienced lecturer and public speaker who has been accredited by The Arts Society since 2012.

His career began with Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, and he has been an investment banker, a management consultant, and spent five years as managing director of the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Faber and Faber, where he remains on the board.

He is also non-executive Chairman of its sister company, Faber Music, and a director of Liverpool University Press.

Toby has written three narrative histories: Stradivarius – Five Violins, One Cello, and a Genius; Faberge’s Eggs; and Faber & Faber – The Untold Story, as well as a novel, Close to the Edge. Of these, only the obvious one is published by the family firm.

2023-24 PROGRAMME OF LECTURES

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The new season’s programme of lectures can be found here. Lectures are held on the first Thursday of the month, unless otherwise stated, and start at 11am. Members are asked to take their seats ten minutes earlier when notices etc are read out.

2023-24 PROGRAMME