The Sistine Chapel

04/28/22 • 55 min

1 Listener

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the astonishing work of Michelangelo (1477-1564) in this great chapel in the Vatican, firstly the ceiling with images from Genesis (of which the image above is a detail) and later The Last Judgement on the altar wall. For the Papacy, Michelangelo's achievement was a bold affirmation of the spiritual and political status of the Vatican, of Rome and of the Catholic Church. For the artist himself, already famous as the sculptor of David in Florence, it was a test of his skill and stamina, and of the potential for art to amaze which he realised in his astonishing mastery of the human form.

With

Catherine Fletcher Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University

Sarah Vowles The Smirnov Family Curator of Italian and French Prints and Drawings at the British Museum

And

Matthias Wivel The Aud Jebsen Curator of Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings at the National Gallery

Producer: Simon Tillotson

With

Catherine Fletcher Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University

Sarah Vowles The Smirnov Family Curator of Italian and French Prints and Drawings at the British Museum

And

Matthias Wivel The Aud Jebsen Curator of Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings at the National Gallery

Producer: Simon Tillotson

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Early Christian Martyrdom

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the accounts by Eusebius of Caesarea (c260-339 AD) and others of the killings of Christians in the first three centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus. Eusebius was writing in a time of peace, after The Great Persecution that had started with Emperor Diocletian in 303 AD and lasted around eight years. Many died under Diocletian, and their names are not preserved, but those whose deaths are told by Eusebius became especially celebrated and their stories became influential. Through his writings, Eusebius shaped perceptions of what it meant to be a martyr in those years, and what it meant to be a Christian.

The image above is of The Martyrdom of Saint Blandina (1886) at the Church of Saint-Blandine de Lyon, France

With:

Candida Moss Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham

Kate Cooper Professor of History at Royal Holloway, University of London

And

James Corke-Webster Senior Lecturer in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King’s College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson