Monday 12th May | 6pm
Venus di Milo | The Goddess in the Garden Centre
Lecture by Dr. Gail-Nina Anderson
If one specific statue embodies the popular notion of classical art it must be the Louvre’s Venus de Milo, uncovered on the Greek island of Milos in 1820. Perhaps because she joined the modern Pantheon so late, at a time when public galleries, newspapers and prints could popularise an ancient artwork across the world, she rapidly became the people’s choice as the iconic image of classical beauty, replacing similar, but already familiar, works. This illustrated talk puts her reputation in context, looking at the revival of interest in Greek and Roman art, at the history of her discovery, installation and popularisation, at prototypes and variants and at her probable original appearance and meaning, as well considering misconceptions, parodies and a never-ending industry of replicas.
Dr. Gail-Nina Anderson is a free-lance lecturer and journalist, specialising in the History of Art, Gothic literature and visual aspects of Folklore in popular culture. Trained at Nottingham University, she has worked throughout the north-east since settling in Newcastle in 1977, reviews regularly for local listings magazine The Crack and delivers talks the Lit & Phil. She also writes articles for the Fortean Times, plus the occasional ghost story. Her Ph.D. thesis, on the later paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, opened up the apparently paradoxical cross-reference of Pre-Raphaelite Classicism. Stemming initially from a consideration of the representation and adaptation of classical motifs in western art of the Renaissance and Victorian periods, her interest has broadened to explore the shifting responses to classical art in less formal aspects of visual culture. The Venus de Milo provides a particularly fascinating case because the comparatively late date of her well-documented discovery ensured her a swiftly-spreading impact on taste, an enthusiastic reception and an iconic reputation still in evidence in the cartoons, gift shops and garden centres of today.
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A LIVE Event at the Lit & Phil | FREE
Most events are free and take place at the Lit & Phil unless otherwise stated. Where there is a ticket charge, those on unemployment benefit and students are free.
Age recommendation for all events is 12 years+
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