Wednesday, June 17, 2026 - 11:00

Called the 'Spanish Caravaggio', Francisco de Zurbarán's art is dark, stark and deeply moving. Born in a small town in Extremadura, he rose to become one of the most successful and distinctive artists of the Spanish Golden Age. His sombre, meditative approach to religious subjects captured the Spanish imagination during the height of the Counter Reformation and, during his forty-year career, he decorated many of Spain's greatest cathedrals and monasteries. His work also spread beyond Spain's borders: many of his paintings were exported to the Americas and there they formed the artistic backdrop to the conversion of a continent. In this lecture, Isabelle Kent will explore Zurbarán's world and how his art stands at the intersection between Catholic faith and empire.

This summer the National Gallery is hosting the first exhibition in Britain dedicated to Zurbarán's art. We hope this lecture will enhance your enjoyment if you visit the exhibition.

Isabelle Kent
Isabelle is an academic and educator specialising in the Baroque, with a particular focus on Spain and its empire. She received a BA and MPhil in History of Art from Trinity College, Cambridge, where she is currently completing her PhD on the art of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán. From 2017 to 2019 she worked as a curator at the Wallace Collection and in 2020 her book 'Collecting Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in Britain and Ireland' was published. Alongside her academia, Isabelle is an expert guide for a travel company, leading groups around Spain and beyond, and she also teaches regularly for the V&A, Art Fund, Royal Academy, Chelsea Arts Club, Wallace Collection and University of Cambridge.

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 11:00

From the late 1850s to the mid-1870s a new craze gripped the world. Photography had just begun to be popularised and suddenly nearly everyone could afford a portrait of themselves to share with others. These small photographic portraits mounted on card were shot professionally in studios and handed out like business or greetings cards – just like we share ‘selfies’ on today’s social media. In just two decades, over 400 million cards were estimated to have been printed and shared with friends, family and fans. We think we invented the ‘selfie’ but we didn’t – welcome to the Victorian carte de visite.

In this highly visual and relevant lecture, Mark Hill will look at the rise and fall of the fashion, explain how these cards were used and how we can date cards from details of clothing and hairstyles. We’ll examine the hidden meanings behind the poses, facial expressions, backgrounds and choice of clothes to reveal the fascinating histories behind these cards that were used by everyone from royalty to the man or woman (quite literally, on the Clapham omnibus!)

Mark Hill
Well-known for his appearances as a 'Miscellaneous' expert on the BBC Antiques Roadshow, Mark studied History of Art & Architecture (BA Hons) and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams before moving to Sotheby's where he was a Specialist in the Collectors' Department. He became director of an internet company forming and running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions and, from 2002-17, was co-author of the Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller. He founded his own publishing company in 2005 and has published over 15 books on emerging specialist subjects in the decorative arts. He has lectured across the world and contributed to many newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. Mark is also a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - 11:00

In 1913 the impressionist artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was declared to be 'the painter of mothers and children,' a title that would redefine her once provocative career as sentimental. Since then, the art of this quite radical feminist has been repeatedly miscast as maudlin.

In this lecture, Sarah Jaffray uses current research into Cassatt that reclaims her rebelliousness and it looks the actual lives of the women and children she painted rather than what nostalgia imagines them to be. There will be an overview of Cassatt’s life and career, why she intentionally chose unconventional subjects and how she was received by her peers, the Independents (aka the Impressionists).

As we look at Cassatt we will also learn about the lives of middle-class women in late 19th century Paris, giving fresh insight into impressionist art and how it challenged the conventional appearance of women at the time. 

SARAH JAFFRAY

Sarah is an art historian, educator, curator and writer based in London. She currently heads the art history programme at City Lit, and previously worked as lead educator for the Bridget Riley Art Foundation in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. She has also worked at Wellcome Collection exploring the connections of art, medicine and human experience and was a tenured professor of Art History based in Los Angeles. She lectures on a variety of topics and prefers to place artworks and objects in their wider social and cultural contexts, from the European Renaissance to the contemporary, emphasising new narratives and approaches to Western Art History. Her art historical research emphasises modern art, the politics and philosophies of the 19th and 20th centuries and how they are related to artistic process: drawing, printmaking, painting and photography.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - 11:00

Leading Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones was consumed for decades by his Briar Rose series of paintings, one of the greatest works of Victorian art. They tell the story of Sleeping Beauty in a mystical dream-world that intertwines medieval romance, decorative craftsmanship and natural beauty. Their exhibition in 1890 caused a sensation and artists, royalty and thousands of ordinary people flocked to see them.

In this lecture, Dr Amy Lim will look at these beautiful paintings in depth and recount their creation, exhibition and the magnificent setting that Burne-Jones designed for them at Buscot Park in Oxfordshire, where they still hang today.

Dr Amy Lim is an art historian and curator, specialising in British fine and decorative arts from the 17th to 20th centuries. She is curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, and of the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, and a tutor at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. She was recently an exhibition researcher at Tate Britain, contributing to 'British Baroque: Power and Illusion' (2020) and 'Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920' (2024). Amy has degrees in History and Literature & Arts from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. She runs an online art dealership, and has published articles and essays on a variety of art-related topics from gothic garden monuments to female patronage.