Italy's Extraordinary Art: From the Pantheon to St. Peter's

Dr. Janetta Rebold Benton is back by popular demand for her second season of lectures at the Schimmel after 30 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Today's lecture is on: Antiquity: Early Italy and the Etruscans: Life in the afterlife. Rise of the Roman Empire: extraordinary engineering—the Colosseum and the Pantheon; documentary sculpture: portraiture--meet the Roman emperors; arches and columns; the “Four Styles” of wall painting.

Italy, where many of the world’s greatest masterpieces have been created, has long exerted a disproportionately large influence on the history of art. Dr. Benton’s lectures, focus on the highlights of architecture, sculpture, painting, and mosaic in Italy from antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque eras. Time travel through Italy’s artistic past, stopping at the world’s most magnificent monuments, temples, cathedrals, and palaces. Study sculpted figures, some appearing to be almost alive. Examine glittering mosaics, murals, and ceiling paintings that will trick your eyes.