Homer’s Shield of Achilles — a microcosm of war, harvest, dance, and law — inspired Flaxman’s stunning 1821 silver-gilt masterpiece, proudly displayed at George IV’s coronation banquet.
Christmas-Time
Eastman Johnson — Longfellow’s portraitist, Dutch Masters admirer, and chronicler of American life — captured slavery, family, and freedom on canvas with quiet humanity and extraordinary skill.
Church of the Holy Martyr Polyeuktos
Built to rival Solomon’s Temple, Anicia Juliana’s magnificent 6th-century Constantinople church defied even Emperor Justinian — its looted treasures now scattered across Venice, Barcelona, and Vienna.
Teaching with Domenico Veneziano
Vasari’s gripping tale of artistic jealousy, a lute smashed and a murder committed — totally fictional, yet Domenico Veneziano’s ethereal Florentine masterpieces remain breathtakingly, undeniably real.
Matisse and Jazz
Matisse’s Jazz — bold, improvisational, electric with colour — mirrors the music it celebrates. Two dazzling pochoirs in Athens invite us to feel rhythm through cut paper and pigment.
The Month of December
Maestro Venceslao’s December fresco captures a frozen Trentino world — bare-footed peasants chopping timber, knights escorting noble ladies, icicles hanging from castle eaves — vivid, harsh, and unforgettable.
Lion Hunt Mosaic
Did Pella’s breathtaking Lion Hunt mosaic echo Krateros’s lost bronze monument at Delphi — immortalising Alexander’s legendary struggle with a lion in marble, metal, and memory?
Watercolours by Howard Carter
Before discovering Tutankhamun’s golden tomb, Howard Carter was a teenage tracer painting Egyptian hieroglyphs in watercolour — his artist’s eye forever shaping one of archaeology’s greatest discoveries.
Saint Mary of the Mongols
From a Mongol Khan’s harem to a Constantinople convent — Byzantine princess Maria Paleologina’s extraordinary journey gave Istanbul its only continuously Greek Orthodox church, Saint Mary of the Mongols.
The Month of November
Maestro Venceslao’s November fresco blazes with aristocrats hunting bear amid autumnal mountains, while Trento’s peasants quietly guard the gates — vivid, thunderous, and breathtakingly alive after six centuries.