Vectis Decorative and Fine Arts Society Lecture

Doors open at 7.15pm. Tea, coffee and bar are available before the lectures which begin at 8.00pm.

We ask you to be seated by 7.55pm. They finish at approximately 9.15-9-30pm Guests are welcome at a cost of £7 and £2 for students.

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The response to Greek art of the Hellenistic period (between Alexander the Great and Cleopatra) is often ambiguous: is it the pinnacle of Greek achievement, or is it the artistic expression of a decaying, decadent culture? By shedding light on the development of portraiture, examining stunning works like the Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon and the Laocoon, looking at some extraordinary painting, and exploring some of the era’s finest architectural achievements, this talk will examine the defining features of Greek art and architecture during the first three centuries BC, and seek a deeper understanding of this controversial period of the Greek civilisation. Recommended reading: R. R. R. Smith, Hellenistic Sculpture: A Handbook (Thames & Hudson 1991) ISBN-13: 978-0500202494 C. Havelock, Hellenistic Art: The Art of the Classical World from the Death of Alexander the Great to the Battle of Actium (W. W. Norton & Co.; Revised edition 1981), ISBN-13: 978-0393951332 M Beard & J, Henderson, Classical Art: From Greece to Rome (OUP, 2001), ISBN-13: 978-0192842374

Lecturer Profile: Dr Stephen Kershaw

As a Classics Tutor for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, Professor of History of Art for the European Studies Program of Rhodes College and The University of the South, and as a Guest Speaker for Swan Hellenic Cruises, Steve Kershaw has spent much of the last 30 years travelling extensively in the world of the Ancient Greeks both physically and intellectually.

His PhD thesis was on Hellenistic Art and Religion, after which he went on to edit Pierre Grimal’s Concise Dictionary of Classical Mythology, later converted to The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology.

In 2007, partly as a result of a course on Greek Mythology that he taught at Oxford University, he published A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths (Constable & Robinson), described by BBC History magazine as ‘eminently sane, highly informative, and reasonably priced’. His Brief Guide to Classical Civilization was published in 2010, and his Brief History of the Roman Empire (2013) has just hit the shelves.