Membership
Treat yourself or a loved one with the gift of Membership: enjoy free access to all exhibitions, access to our Members’ Room, priority booking to evening talks, and much more.
Join today
High Renaissance to Baroque: 1500 – 1720
Year course
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Explore the art, architecture and decorative arts of Europe from the High Renaissance to the Baroque. This course examines changes in patronage during this period, with the rise of a prosperous middle class and the invention of printing, which enabled books and prints to reach a much wider audience. We consider the effect of wars and economic policies on the arts, and the influence of trading voyages on imports of luxury goods from the East.
Year Course Director
Dr Kathy McLauchlan
Dr Kathy McLauchlan is an art historian specialising in French painting and the academic tradition. She completed an MA in 19th century painting and a PhD on the work of art students at the French Academy in Rome at the Courtauld Institute, University of London. Kathy has worked the Open University, Birkbeck College, NADFAS and Morley College.
It is really rewarding to be amongst lecturers and other students who are so interested and who know so much about the subjects. 2015/16 Year Course Student
Delve deeper into the subjects you love
Enjoy thought-provoking lectures and access to the V&A collections in a group who share your passion. Refreshments served on arrival each day. Year course students are eligible for NUS student cards, and have the option of a certificate of completion
Course overview
Autumn Term
12 weeks, 21 September – 7 December 2016
1500-1560
Three of the most celebrated European artists – Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo – were working in Italy at the start of the 16th century. In the same period, books and prints by Dürer and his contemporaries introduced new audiences to art images.
Spring Term
12 weeks, 11 January – 29 March 2017
1560-1650
The Reformation and Counter Reformation had profound effects on painting, sculpture and architecture. A new Baroque style emerged in Rome, most spectacularly in the work of Bernini and Borromini. Meanwhile, England’s Tudor period saw a flowering in the arts.
Summer Term
12 weeks, 26 April – 12 July 2017
1650-1720
For the Netherlands, independence in 1648 inaugurated a golden age for art, particularly in the domestic spheres of portraiture and genre. Elsewhere the state took a stronger lead, above all in France, where Louis XIV’s palace of Versailles embodied his power and prestige.
Enrol now
Year course: High Renaissance to Baroque: 1500 – 1720
21 September 2016 - 12 July 2017
£73.00 - £1,950.00
Call to book +44 (0)20 7942 2000
Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)
