Miniseries - The Rest Is History

Greatest Paintings: Dawn of the Dutch Golden Age - The Arnolfini Portrait (Ep. 1)

Why is Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait perceived as one of the greatest mysteries of the arts? What elements and symbolisms provoke debates about its identity and meaning? And, what do we know about its provenance, its travels through European royal courts, and its influence on Diego Velázquez? In this new The Rest Is History Club series, Tom is joined by art critic and author Laura Cumming to discuss the histories behind famous paintings and put them in their historical contexts.

Greatest Paintings: Spain’s Imperial Ghost – Velázquez’s Las Meninas (Ep. 2)

Why does Diego Velázquez’ Las Meninas represent the fading Spanish Golden Age? How did he challenge the boundaries between viewer and artwork? And, in what ways does his defining style foreshadow Impressionism and serve as an indirect image of his own genius?In this new The Rest Is History Club series, Tom is joined by art critic and author Laura Cumming to discuss the histories behind famous paintings and put them in their historical contexts.

Greatest Paintings: Age of Enlightenment - Raeburn's Skating Minister (Ep. 3)

How does Henry Raeburn’s Skating Minister represent both the Scottish Enlightenment and the Romantic movement? In what ways does subject Reverend Robert Walker’s personal history connect to the famous Dutch Golden Age? And, how did a controversy about the most reproduced image in Scotland traumatise the Scottish national identity?

Greatest Paintings: The French Revolution - Millet's Angelus (Ep.4)

Why was Jean-François Millet’s The Angelus considered highly controversial and politically divisive in pre-industrial 19th-century France? What do we know about his personal background, his ambiguous relationship with his subjects, and the scene of the famous Barbizon School? And, how did artists like Salvador Dalí and Vincent Van Gogh draw inspiration and reinterpret the painting?