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Click here for future lectures

20 July 2026Pompeii & Herculanium: Reconstructing the Final Day
15 June 2026The Queen Mother's Lifelong Love of Jewellery
27 May 2026SPECIAL INTEREST MORNING 10am for 10.30am The Brilliance of British Architecture Two lectures and lunch. Tickets £35.00
18 May 2026Notre Dame de Paris - Its Iconic Status in French History
20 April 2026Art of the Chalk Landscapes
16 March 2026Monopoly in Photography
16 February 2026Carpet Ride to Khiva – The Revival of 15th century Timurid Carpet Design
19 January 2026The Healing Power of Plants
17 November 2025Art Nouveau Architecture Around the World
20 October 2025Beloved of the Virgin: The City of Siena and its Art.
15 September 2025Gilded Glories – The History of Gilding.
21 July 2025Bandstands: History, Decline and Revival
16 June 2025The Baroque Country House
19 May 2025Happy & Glorious – 1000 years of Coronations
14 April 2025Tinker, Tailor, Artist, Spy. Sir Peter Paul Rubens as a Diplomat and Agent
17 March 2025Vaux le Vicomte. Fit for a King. The Inspiration behind Versailles Palace
17 February 2025Peru: The Incas and their Predecessors seen through their Art and Textiles
20 January 2025Atkinson Grimshaw – Master of Moonlight
18 November 2024Monumental Squares & Fountains of Rome
21 October 2024From Downton to Gatsby: Jewellery & Fashion from 1890-1929
16 September 2024The Origins of Art Nouveau Architecture
15 July 2024Vermeer: The Musical Pictures
17 June 2024Taking the Waters: Social Life in the Spa Towns from Roman Times to the Present Day.
20 May 2024Looking Over the Artist’s Shoulder: The Italian Sketchbooks of J.M.W. Turner
15 April 2024Sport of the Gods: Olympia & the Ancient Olympics
18 March 2024The Rise and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte
19 February 2024London's Lost Department Stores. A Vanished World of Dazzle and Dreams, 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
15 January 2024John Singer Sargent: Power of the Portrait
20 November 2023In the Kingdom of the Sweets: The Nutcracker 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
16 October 2023A Child of Six Could Do It! Cartoonists' views of Modern Art 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
18 September 2023Here be Dragons: Mediaeval Monsters. 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
17 July 2023Giles: His Life,Times and Cartoons. 2.30 in the hall. Please note this lecture is hall only, there will be no ZOOM.
19 June 2023British Travellers in Mexico: Lost Cities and Surreal Worlds 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
15 May 2023How to Build and Decorate a Greek Temple 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
17 April 2023The Thames: Theatre of Pagentry and Pleasure 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
20 March 2023The Empty Chair in Art from Van Gogh to Ai Weiwei 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
20 February 2023Silk in England: From James 1 to Lady Zoe Hart Dyke 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
16 January 2023Coventry Cathedral – Icon and Inspiration 2.30.in the hall and by ZOOM
13 December 2022Christmas Charity Lecture: A Tour of St.Peter's Basilica
21 November 2022Stocking Fillers from Faberge 2.30 in the hall and by ZOOM.
17 October 2022A Decorative Art; History of Wallpapers: 2.30 in the hall and by ZOOM
20 September 2022Charles Darwin and the voyage of HMS Beagle: at 2.30 pm in the hall and by ZOOM. Note date has changed to 20th September 2022
18 July 2022Double Dutch: Symbols, Emblems & Double-Entendre in Dutch Genre Painting: at 2.30pm in the hall
20 June 2022Cordoba and Beyond: Muslim Art and Architecture in Spain: at 2.30pm in the hall and by ZOOM
16 May 2022A Concise History of our Great British Parks: at 2.30pm in the hall and by ZOOM
25 April 2022Passionate Potters: From William de Morgan to Leach at 2.30pm in the Hall and by ZOOM
21 March 2022Edith Durham's Bold Edwardian Collection of Beautiful Balkan Things by ZOOM at 2.30pm, live from Kosovo
21 February 2022 Treasures of the Fan Museum by ZOOM at 2.30
17 January 2022Along the river Tiber 28 centuries of history told through the bridges and riverside monuments of Rome at 2.30 pm.
15 November 2021Faber & Faber: 90 years of Excellence in Cover Design
18 October 2021We Are Amused! Victorian leisure – from parlour to the seaside, via the nursery. .By ZOOM at 2.30
20 September 2021Paradise Lost:400 years of Garden Design in Oxfordshire By ZOOM at 2.30 pm
16 August 2021Bhutan: Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon By ZOOM at 5.00 pm
19 July 2021A Private Palace of Art: Frederick Leighton’s Studio House. By ZOOM at 2.30 pm
21 June 2021Cathedrals - Safe places to do risky things
17 May 2021Caravaggio: The master of Light and Shadow
19 April 2021The Art of Dance
15 March 2021What's in a Crack? A closer look at the paintings of Stanhope Forbes RA and the Newlyn School Painters
15 February 2021The Jewel inthe Crown: Arab and Norman Sicily
18 January 2021Peggy Guggenheim
16 November 2020Mozart, the Early Years NB Lecture starts at 5.30pm
20 October 2020From Venice to Sheffield: John Ruskin's Passion for Art, Craft and Social Justice
21 September 2020Backstage at the Opera
03 August 2020Now you see it, now you don't. The Art of Visual Deception
20 July 2020AGM - 2.15 pm. Double Dutch: Symbols, Emblems & Double-Entendre in Dutch Genre Psainting.
15 June 2020Cordoba and Beyond: Muslim Art and Architecture in Spain.
18 May 2020A Decorative Art: History of Wallpapers.
20 April 2020Passionate Potters: William de Morgan to Leach.
16 March 2020The Silver Thread: Silver Filigree & Traditional Arts in Kosovo.
17 February 2020Vivaldi in Venice.
20 January 2020Why Roy Lichtenstein Matters.
18 November 2019The Bayeux Tapestry
21 October 2019Opera: The Melting Pot of Culture
16 September 2019Constables Great Landscapes: Materials & Techniques of Constable's Exhibited Oils of the 1820s and 1830s
15 July 2019The Punch and Judy Show: A Subversive Symbol from Commedia dell'arte to Present.
17 June 2019A Royal Rescue: Dumfries House Saved and Revealed.
20 May 2019Art Inspired by Wine
15 April 2019Victoria and Albert: Art and Love.
18 March 2019Home is where the Art is: The Renaissance Palace Interior
18 February 2019Twin Peaks of the Garden City Movement
21 January 2019The Elgin Marbles
04 December 2018CHARITY LECTURE As Good as Gold
19 November 2018The Christmas Story in Renaissance Art
15 October 2018The World of Graham Sutherland and John Piper
17 September 2018A Passion for Piers: A Delightful Look at the History of Pleasure Piers
16 July 2018AGM - 2.15 pm To the far side of the world: Capt. James Cook and The Enlightement.
18 June 2018The Art of 1935: (Silver Jubilee, Art Deco, photography).
21 May 2018The Emperor Hadrian: Architecture and buildings as an expression of power.
16 April 2018Deceiving the eye: Trompe l'oeil painting
19 March 2018The day Parliament burned down.
19 February 2018The Art and Culture of fin-de-siecle Vienna
15 January 2018Power, Propaganda and Men in Tights: English painting under the Tudors.
20 November 2017Will the real Santa Claus please stand up.
16 October 2017A Royal Rescue: Dumfries House saved and revealed.
18 September 2017Sculpture and the Landscape: A journey round Sculpture Parks of Britain.
17 July 2017AGM - 2.154pm The Hon. East India Company: East-west Trade 1600-1800, Chinese Export and Chinoiserie
19 June 2017Birmingham Town Hall: England's First Truly Civic Building.
15 May 2017Isabelle d'Este, Collector and Patron of Art: by fair means or foul?
24 April 2017Van Gogh and Gaugin: A Terrible Lucidity.
20 March 2017St Pancras and Friends: A Journey through London's Stations.
20 February 2017The Golden Age of Venetian Glass
16 January 2017To the Far Side of the World: Capt James Cook and the Enlightenment.
21 November 2016The Journey of the Magi: 1700 years of the Three Kings
17 October 2016The Role of the Arts in the cycle of crime, Prison and Re-offending.
19 September 2016Elisabeth Frink: The Expressive Power of Bronze
18 July 2016Photography as Fine Art
20 June 2016Mughals and Rajputs:Courts and Palaces of India.
16 May 2016Charles Dickens: The Man and his Life through his Characters
18 April 2016Expressionism: Emotion Versus Intellect.
21 March 2016The Houses of the Cecils: Burghley and Hatfield.
15 February 2016The Art and Science of The Lunar Society during the Enlightenment.
18 January 2016William Hogarth 1697 - 1764
16 November 2015Pomp and Circumstance: Royal Ceremonies from Coronations to Jubilees
03 November 2015Designing Costumes for Film and Television.
19 October 2015World Fairs & Exhibitions 1851 - 1900: Their scope and Influence
21 September 2015From Humble Beginnings: 150 Years of The National Portrait Gallery.
20 July 2015Gertrude Jekyll - Artist and Gardener.
15 June 2015The Painted Church: Seeing and Understanding Medieval Wall Paintings
18 May 2015Windsor: A Castle Restored. The Fire of 1992 and the Restoration.
20 April 2015From Russia: Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes 1909-1920
16 March 2015The Luttrell Psalter
16 February 2015Silver and Social Custom
19 January 2015The Art of Waterloo
17 November 2014Cooking for Kings: The Life and Career of Antonia Creme - The first celebrity chef.
20 October 2014The Fascinating World of Playing Cards
15 September 2014Wallis Simpson: That Woman or The Duchess of Style

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Pompeii & Herculanium: Reconstructing the Final Day James Renshaw Monday 20 July 2026