The Private Life of a Masterpiece — Season 6
About this season
Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC arts documentary series that tells the stories behind great works of art reaching from the Renaissance to modern art. David by Michelangelo, The Scream by Edvard Munch, The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya, The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn, Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso, The Annunciation by Jan van Eyck, ... The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer. For behind the beautiful canvases and sculptures are tales of political revolution, wartime escapes, massive ego clashes, social scandal, financial wrangling and shocking violence. The series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.
Episodes (3)
1. Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper
Aired 13 April 2006 • 50 min
The stories behind three paintings that encompass traditional Easter themes. The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. Dan Brown 's blockbuster The Da Vinci Code may have brought the fresco to a new audience, but historian David Rosand argues that the book suffers from a basic misreading of the painting; here, he guides us through the work's life story.
2. Salvador Dalí: Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Aired 14 April 2006 • 50 min
This extraordinary crucifixion scene - inspired by a weird mix of Spanish mysticism and nuclear physics - is often called the 20th century's greatest religious painting. Yet the artist was a notorious blasphemer whose work had provoked outrage in the Catholic Church.
3. Piero della Francesca: The Resurrection
Aired 17 April 2006 • 50 min
A masterpiece of composition, Francesca's widely admired painting depicts the risen Christ - wearing the expression of "a sturdy stevedore", as one art critic put it - while beneath him the guards slumber. Art experts explain the significance of this extraordinary work.