Audio downloads: Events and lectures
Icons and the Practice of Prayer
Icons are - among other things - practical aids to meditative prayer, and painted in a climate of prayer. His Grace Dr Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury, looks at some aspects of how this has worked in the past and still works today.
Click here to download the lecture (21.2 MB)
Byzantium: Looking at a Mirage
An introduction to the exhibition delivered by curator Robin Cormack.
Click here to download the lecture (25.4 MB)
Women, Men and Eunuchs: The Three Sexes in Byzantium
Professor Liz James, University of Sussex, explores the different roles and lifestyles allocated to the three sexes who made up Byzantine society: men, the most important; women, the least significant; and eunuchs, neither one nor the other.
Click here to download the lecture (23.8 MB)
A Sinai Illuminated Manuscript of the Heavenly Ladder: Spiritual Ascents through Art
Father Justin, Librarian of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, discusses how the illuminated manuscript of The Ladder of Divine Ascent provides insights into the spirituality of Sinai and the theology of art in the Orthodox Church. Supported by The Hellenic Foundation.
Click here to download the lecture (25.5 MB)
The Making of Byzantium 330-1453
Dr Adrian Locke, exhibition co-curator.
Click here to download the lecture (30.1 MB)
Icons and Iconoclasm: Religious Imagery in Christianity, Judaism and Islam
In contrast to the polytheistic religions and their exuberant depictions of their many gods, Christianity, Judaism and Islam have distinct reservations about displaying images of their God. This panel discussion explores iconoclasm and why, when and how it happens. Panellists Professor Judith Herrin, King's College London; Dr Sabiha Al Khemir, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha; Professor Philip Alexander, University of Manchester Centre for Jewish Studies; and historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes explore iconoclasm and why, when and how it happens. Supported by the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Enterprise.
Click here to download the lecture (30.3 MB)
