DFAS

Francis Basset in 1778  on

the Grand Tour in Rome,

with the Castel Sant'Angelo

and St. Peter's Basilica

in the background.

 Painting by Pompeo Batoni.

Music on The Grand Tour is a talk that brings to life one of the most important aspects of music in 18^th century Italy.

Although a great deal has been written about the Grand Tour in the 18^th century, very little has been researched in the field of the music experienced by the travellers as they settled for a while in Italy--the land of music.

We will follow their footsteps through Venice, Florence and Rome discovering composers such as Scarlatti and Pergolesi.

We are happy to welcome back the lecturer who, through his lecture, images and musical performance, will bring to life the lure of Italy, its music, its composers, its performers, its musical forms and styles, as well as its intellectual and social life. He will let us see exactly what drew the musical travellers south time and time again.

The Taj Mahal

The lecture is based on the Islamic manuscript, the Padshahnama (chronicle of the King of the World) which is the unique official history of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, who ruled India from 1628 to 1658.

He is best remembered for the building of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Padshahnama is illustrated with 44 of the finest Mughal paintings in the world. They vividly depict the very dramatic events in the Emperor's reign and the years before it. Most of the important individuals in Shah Jahan's court can be identified and the paintings tell the remarkable story of the intrigues of court life as well as the Emperor's coronation, royal weddings, bloody battles and hunting scenes.

The book is the finest Islamic manuscript in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and was given to King George III in 1797 by the ruler of the north Indian state of Oudh.

Madam X

Who is that beautiful woman in the iconic little black dress? And why did the painting cause such a sensation in unshockable Paris in 1884? Sargent took it with him when he fled to England and it remained in his London studio until the sitter’s death.

In 1915 when the painting was sold to the Metropolitan museum of art in New York sergeant wrote ‘on account of the row I had with the lady years ago, the picture should not be called by her name….I suppose it is the best thing I have done’.

Mme X will be discussed in the context of the artist’s other work and influences. A poignant story of ambition and miscalculation, brought to life with extracts from diaries, correspondence and contemporary photographs.

In 2010, Vincent van Gogh’s painting of his bedroom in Arles was subject to a painstaking campaign of conservation and restoration treatment lasting several months.

This talk reveals some of the new discoveries made during this process, affecting our interpretation and appreciation of the painting as seen today.

Special attention will be given to the aspect of colour change that has taken place and the dilemma’s this raised for the current approach towards treatment and display.

From the beginning of time the fascination with magic and the impossible has been widespread.

Egypt was the cradle of magic where sorcerer priests used scientific principles to create illusions and to hold power over the people. Later magicians were known as ‘Jongleurs’ lest they be sentenced to death for ‘witchcraft and conjuration’. With the emergence of the Music Hall, magic gained a new respectability and audiences flocked in their thousands to watch the extraordinary feats of The Great Illusionists.

And if magicians guarded their secrets with their lives, how was the Magic Circle formed? – Home of 10,000 secrets. Even today in our super technical age of ipods and broadband, the wonder and surprise of magic are as popular as ever, not forgetting the Harry Potter craze.

Wonder Workers and the Art of Illusion is a whistle stop tour of the history of mystery from 3000BC to the 21st century and be careful! - you might be amazed and bewitched.

The English Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th century was a huge influence on the development of avant-garde European Design and even the birth of Modernism in the early 20th century.

Many people are familiar with the work of male Arts and Crafts Movement designers such as William Morris, Sir Edward Burne-Jones Charles Voysey and William de Morgan, but women designers played a huge part in the movement as well and so far their work has received little critical attention.

This richly illustrated lecture examines the contribution made by women such as Jan and May Morris, Evelyn de Morgan, Georgina Gaskin as well as the work of recently rediscovered regional designers across the UK working in enamels, jewellery, textiles and painting. It will also include a look at women stained glass designers, such as Florence Camm, who was a talented 20th century stained glass designer and painter. Although her work is little known today, she soon gained international recognition and can be found throughout the world.

Although comparatively little known, the architecture and gardens of Portugal offer many visual delights to the visitor.

This lecture will explore the development of Portuguese architecture through a series of outstanding buildings starting with the gothic Cistercian abbey of Alcobaca and the wonderful lace-like carved decoration on the royal abbey of Batalha.

Portugal created its own version of the Renaissance known as Manueline, a unique combination of classical forms enriched with decoration influenced by Portugal’s great seafaring tradition. The wealth of the country in the 17th and 18th century resulted in many baroque and rococo palaces and villas. Again Portugal produced her own particular vigorous interpretation of these styles. We shall look at the beautiful university library at Coimbra, the Rococo royal palace at Queluz, the delightful villa of Mateus, amongst other examples.

Many Portuguese buildings, fountains and canals are beautified by azuelos-the coloured pictorial tiles, which are such a traditional feature. Many unspoilt early formal gardens survive, and these are one of the little explored delights of this beautiful country. As elsewhere the 19th century is a period of revivals, and we shall conclude with an astonishing royal neo-Manueline palace and its gardens at Busaco.

Batalha Monastery

Noel Coward
by Edward Sorel

Sir Noel Coward (1899-1973) wrote over fifty plays, many short stories, some novels, hundreds of songs (both music and lyrics) and was an excellent witty, and sometimes moving, minor poet.

He acted on the professional stage from the age of ten. As a leisure activity in the 1930’s he painted, first in watercolour, and then, on the advice of Sir Winston Churchill, in oils and, later, gouache. After Word War II he painted in England and Switzerland but his best and most vital work was done in Jamaica.

In this talk we shall trace Coward’s stage and film career, listen to excerpts from his songs and plays but also look at a number of his paintings. His friend and secretary, Cole Lesley, said ‘The countless hours Noels spent at the easel were amongst the most happy and carefree of his life.’