Open Programme: Lectures
Icons: Tradition and Symbolism by Dr Richard Temple
This lecture discusses the origin of icons when Christianity first spread through the Late Roman Empire. The intellectual training of the great theologians of the 4th century, such as Saint Augustine, was based on the philosophy of Plato and the later schools of Platonic thought. Early Christian art was not...
13 November 2013 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
"God is beautiful and He loves beauty": The Metaphysics of Aesthetics in the Islamic Tradition by Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi
What is the relationship between beauty and reality; between aesthetics and metaphysics? This lecture proposes some answers to this question from the point of view of the Qur'an, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and certain sages and saints in the Islamic mystical tradition. It will be argued that beauty,...
27 November 2013 at Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - LondonRead more
An Introduction to Symbolism in Islamic Art and Architecture by Jason Elliot
It is universally agreed that the traditional art of the Islamic world is almost always beautiful and even ingenious, but beyond its aesthetic appeal, does it mean anything? Western historians of Islamic art have tended to view it as an art that was from its beginnings diverted by religious prohibitions...
29 January 2014 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
Sacred Landscape Geometry: From Neolithic to Post-Roman by Robin Heath
Modern education treats geometry largely as a learning confined within the boundaries of a sheet of paper. But geometry means ‘measuring the earth’, and the subject then becomes much more physical and demands levels of skill far beyond straight edge and compass. A geometer who masters such skills comes to...
12 February 2014 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
Ancient, Medieval and Modern Views of Astrology by Warren Kenton
In this slide-illustrated lecture we will examine the origins and purpose of Existence, the universe and our place in it. Ancient and medieval philosophers and mystics recognised the unfolding of a Divine plan that interweaves the workings of the cosmos with human history and individual fate. Today, schools of the...
26 February 2014 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
An Introduction to the Quadrivium, The Four Classical Arts of Number, Geometry, Music and Cosmology by John Martineau
A lecture on the four classical liberal arts of relating to number. These are Number itself; Number in Space which is Geometry; Number in Time which is Music, and Number in Space and Time, symbolised by Cosmology. The lecture will also cover important crossover elements like Symmetry and the Golden...
5 March 2014 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
Drawing the Cosmos into Being: Amerindian Beliefs in Pattern and Design by Dr Max Carocci
Indigenous American arts are part of a complex system in which the finished craft is often as important as the gestures involved in its manufacture. The lecture will explore through examples from Pre-Columbian and historic cultures of the Americas how the production of objects and patterns establishes bridges between different...
6 May 2014 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
Metaphysics and the Cosmic Order by Joseph Milne
In this lecture we shall explore the classical way of understanding nature and the cosmos. For the ancient philosophers everything was seen as part of the whole, which was full of intelligence, meaning and purpose. From this sense of wholeness arose the different aspects of culture, such as religion, jurisprudence,...
21 May 2014 at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, LondonRead more
An Introduction to Traditional Methods and Materials by Dr David Cranswick
The earth is the apothecary of the arts; earth is symbolic of the archetypal feminine and the creative. Traditional crafts are built upon knowledge of the earth, the archetypal feminine, the embodiment of wisdom. The practice of preparing materials from rocks and plants is a ritual, uniting the outward act...
4 June 2014 at Great Western Studios - LondonRead more
The Alchemy of Paint by Dr Spike Bucklow
Up to and including the nineteenth century, artists’ pigments were valued for more than just their colour. Up to the seventeenth century, the pigments themselves could add sophisticated layers of meaning to paintings. This lecture reviews sources of blue pigments and looks at the meticulous use of blues in a...
17 June 2014 at The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - LondonRead more
For more information on courses or to make a booking, please contact Sam Pepper on 0207 613 8547.
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