WEA Courses

Photography was invented in the 1840s but it was never intended specifically as an art form. In this course we will examine the development of photography from the invention of the medium in the 1840s to the present day. Many photographers used prevailing art forms, notably painting, to inform the subjects and composition of their pictures, but it eventually gained its own language, exploiting the technical aspects of the medium.

The Royal collection of art contains some superb examples of Italian art, especially from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, including a 'lost' Caravaggio.  These works were collected by many generations of Royals who proved to be enthusiastic collectors with a keen eye. This course will seek to explore both the exciting story of how the Royal Collection was slowly built up - and sometimes dispersed - and also of the glorious art treasures themselves.

We will explore the fascinating Late Period of ancient Egypt; a time which juxtaposes strength, renaissance, trade, cultural fusion and autonomy with occupation, conflict and division. The rule of Nubian Pharaoh Taharqa is followed by brief Assyrian involvement leading to Twenty-Sixth dynasty Egypt which, with high quality art and monumental tombs, should be considered one of the gems of Pharaonic history.

In this course we shall examine Venetian art and architecture from its Byzantine origins in Torcello, through Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces by Bellini, Titian, Longhena and Tiepolo, to the innovative works of Scarpa and Gianquinto. Mosaics and paintings, sculpture and buildings will be studied within the unique context in which they were created.

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The findings of modern biology challenge many of our most cherished assumptions about life as a special, privileged domain and they undermine the view of humans as a species endowed with unique properties, with a central place in the natural world. This course will introduce the key ideas of biology and explore the implications of these ideas for understanding ourselves and the future of our species.

In this course we will survey the principal periods of architecture, taking in Roman Trier, Charlemagne’s Aachen, the glorious Romanesque abbey of Maria Laach, the Gothic in Cologne, Prague and Vienna, Baroque in Würzburg, mad King Ludwig’s nineteenth century Neuschwanstein; and in the twentieth century both Albert Speer’s plans for Hitler’s “Germania” and remaking the Reichstag for a re-unified Germany.

 Sir Christopher Wren's baroque cathedral in the City of London is one of the great iconic buildings of the world. Born out of the ruins of the Great Fire in the 1660s, it rapidly became a place that hosted many important events and became the resting place for leading figures in our national life. Join us to examine the fascinating story of St Paul's, from its birth right up to the present day.