Renaissance

Latest Episodes

• Mystery of the Marriage

  Insight into the stories behind famous works of art, beginning with The Arnolfini Marriage, by Jan Van Eyck, one of the most influential Renaissance paintings in the world. Speculation that the masterpiece may have been created as a marriage certificate, or even the record of an exorcism, have prompted scientific investigations and the uncovering of new evidence which has forced leading experts to question whether they've got anything right at all

• The Pure Radiance of the Past

  Andrew Graham-Dixon visits Florence to explore the city's reputation as cradle of the Renaissance. Here the patronage of the fabulously wealthy Medici family encouraged the flowering of talents as diverse as all-round genius Michelangelo, sculptor Donatello, painter Masaccio and architect Brunelleschi, whose experiments with perspective remain a hallmark of the age

• The Riddle of the Dome

  One of the greatest monuments of the Renaissance, the dome of Florence Cathedral, also poses one of the greatest mysteries of the time : how was it built? An Italian architect believes he has at last solved the riddle after 27 years of painstaking study which included building a house-sized replica to find the answer which historians felt was unattainable