Free Evening Lecture Series: Art and Travel in the Mediterranean, 1600–1900

In the history of British travel since the late sixteenth century, the Mediterranean has always played a prime role and inevitably captured the imagination like no other European region. Travel to the Mediterranean was stimulated by its art and architecture and in return inspired new art, architecture, collecting and art criticism. Images drawn, painted or photographed on these journeys by a diversity of travellers – artists, antiquarians, scientists, ethnographers, diplomats, navy personal, amateurs and tourists, to name just a few – have fulfilled a whole variety of purposes. This lecture series, organised by the National Maritime Museum’s Centre for Art and Travel and generously hosted by the Paul Mellon Centre, attempts a new overview on the subject from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century.

Lectures
26 November 2009: The Origins of the Grand Tour and the Discovery of Art, Edward Chaney, Southampton Solent University

10 December 2009: 'Present under the rose...' Stratford Canning, his Greek artist, and the last chance to see Turkey before the Tanzimat, Charles Newton, former Curator, Victoria & Albert Museum

21 January 2010: 'These inhuman trafficers in flesh & blood' : British artists and the slave trade in Egypt, Briony Llewellyn, Independent Art Historian

4 February 2010: Revolving Mirrors: Britain and Spain from the Armada to the Spanish Civil War, David Howarth, University of Edinburgh

18 February 2010: ‘Hellas… in one living picture’: British artist travellers in Greece, Jenny Gaschke, National Maritime Museum

All lectures take place at: Seminar room, Paul Mellon Centre, 16 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3JA. 18.00 start; 19.00 drinks; 19.30 exit. (Nearest tube stations include Tottenham Court Road, Goodge Street or Russell Square.)

Booking: Free of charge and no need to book, but if you wish to reserve a place, please check NMM website for contact details (link below).

For more information see: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/researchers/research-areas-and-projects/cart/art-and-travel-lectures/