We are watching a series of lectures entitled "The World's Greatest Paintings". These are given by an American Professor and range from the 1300's right up to modern times. Many of the paintings are familiar to most of us, yet the introduction of less familiar ones bring variety to this course.

Art Appreciation August 2026

We continue watching DVDs of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which shows us round various galleries there, one of which was European Sculpture. Our lecturer pointed out that sculpture can be seen from all angles, rather than flat as in a painting.  Our second lecture introduced us to The Arts of Africa and Oceania, which included items with ‘magical’ powers attached to them.

We concluded the afternoon’s viewing with paintings from the Netherlands in the 1500s.  This was a time of crisis in the Netherlands with both political and religious clashes, affecting artists of the time.  A notable painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder features The Tower of Babel, but there were others with a religious significance, including the Massacre of the Innocents.

Val Gosden

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Image of the Great Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, from Wikipedia.

Year	c. 1563
Medium	oil on wood panel
Dimensions	114 cm × 155 cm (45 in × 61 in)
Location	Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna