The Private Life of a Masterpiece - Season 8
Season 8
Episodes
Rogier Van Der Weyden: The Descent From The Cross
Six hundred years ago, one painting in Northern Europe was prized above all others. Queens and Kings rivalled to own it. Other and lesser painters endlessly copied it. Anyone who saw it was struck with awe. The 'Descent from the Cross' was huge and overwhelming. The painter was a Flemish master, Rogier Van Der Weyden. He succeeded in this painting in doing something that no one before him and many after him could not do: he painted real human emotion.
Today it is one of the greatest masterpieces in Spain's National Gallery - the Prado - in Madrid. It was taken there by Philip II of Spain and survived great adventures - almost lost at sea and almost destroyed by German bombers in the Spanish Civil War. This Private Life tells the remarkable story of this painting.
Fra Filippo Lippi: The Adoration of the Christ Child
Painted over five centuries ago, Filippo Lippi's nativity is like no other: the birth of Christ in a dark, wooded wilderness. Its beauty inspired Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. But it also conceals a deeply personal story. It was painted for a wealthy banker who feared that his money was dragging him straight to hell. The artist's life was equally surprising. The most celebrated painter of his day, Filippo Lippi was also a Carmelite friar. But he was no stranger to the temptations of the flesh,shortly before painting his Adoration, he caused uproar by seducing a twenty year-old nun – and getting her pregnant.
This programme looks at the turbulant history of this masterpiece which with its combination of divine mystery and a very human beauty make it seem to transcend time and creed.
Recently Updated Shows
The Irrational
The Irrational follows world-renowned professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer as he lends his unique expertise on an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations. His insight and unconventional approach to understanding human behavior lead him and the team on a series of intense, unexpected journeys to solve illogical puzzles and perplexing mysteries.
Will Trent
In Will Trent Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta's overwhelmed foster care system. But now, determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was, Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.
The Rookie
The Rookie is inspired by a true story. John Nolan is the oldest rookie in the LAPD. At an age where most are at the peak of their career, Nolan cast aside his comfortable, small town life and moved to L.A. to pursue his dream of being a cop. Now, surrounded by rookies twenty years his junior, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, humorous and unpredictable world of a "young" cop, determined to make his second shot at life count.
Hudson & Rex
Detective Charlie Hudson, a cunning Major Crimes detective for the St. John's Police Department, teams up with an unusual partner – Rex, a former-K9 German Shepherd, whose heightened senses keep Charlie hot on the trail of his suspects. Together, they investigate puzzling crimes, from a kidnapping which reveals a much larger conspiracy at play to an art theft murder which runs deep into the world of high society. With Charlie's deft detective work and Rex's keen canine senses, this crime-fighting pair is unstoppable.