Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi - star of the landmark television series "I, Claudius" - this documentary explores art and culture around the Bay of Naples before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The bay was then the most fashionable destination for vacationing Romans. Julius Caesar, emperors, and senators were among those who owned sumptuous villas along its shores. Artists flocked to the region to create frescoes, sculpture, and luxurious objects in gold, silver, and glass for villa owners as well as residents of Pompeii and other towns in the shadow of Vesuvius. The film concludes with the story of the discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum from the 18th century onward.

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the...

Presents life in 18th century Spain as the painter Francisco de Goya showed it to us.

Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the ancient world was ruled by Rome. Throu...

A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of ...

With loans from across the world, this major retrospective will bring together Vermeer’s most famous...

It's a condition known as "hypertrichosis" or "Ambras Syndrome," but in the 1500s it would transform...

A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedett...

In the beginning was sex. To the ancient cultures, sexuality, love and sex were inextricably connect...

Artist Grayson Perry has been working behind the scenes at the British Museum to stage his most ambi...

The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and ...

Vincent Castiglia paints in human blood.

Many artists use the pain, exhilaration and resolution of private desires to express themselves. Art...

Director Philip Haas and artist David Hockney invite you to join them on a magical journey through C...

The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childh...

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist...

Short costume picture on the infamous Roman Emperor.

William Friedkin attends an exorcism with Father Gabriele Amorth, as he treats an Italian woman name...

When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbri...