In this lively presentation John shares his knowledge and enthusiasm for wine and shows the contribution that ‘wine art’ has made to paintings throughout the ages from renaissance masterpieces to modern hilarious cartoons and striking posters.

Examine the provocative and often beautiful work of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in the context of dissident art in modern China. Having collaborated successfully in the design of the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was arrested by police for fighting ‘the system’. He remains a committed artist despite the odds.

Artemisia Gentileschi, (1593 -1656), the Italian Baroque artist, is now considered to be one of the most accomplished painters in the generation following that of Caravaggio. In an era when female painters were not easily accepted find out how she became the first woman member of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence.

This is the gripping and sometimes hilarious story of how heroic curators and eccentric custodians saved Britain’s national heritage during our Darkest Hour. As Hitler’s forces gathered on the other side of the Channel, men and women from London’s museums, galleries and archives forged extraordinary plans to evacuate their collections.