'After Class' Podcast

Art on the WallSeeing Through the Eyes of History with George Bent

George Bent, the Sydney Gause Childress Professor in the Arts at W&L, talks about what inspired his love of art history, why he loves teaching it, and how he has engaged students in a remarkable digital history project, "Florence As It Was," that is reconstructing the Italian city the way it appeared at the end of the 15th century.

Recorded Nov. 1, 2021
Aired Nov. 9, 2021

“We don't wait until we have 25 buildings and then post them all at once. We do it one at a time. Well, this means that you're constantly changing it, you're constantly building it, constantly growing. We're always adding new things ... I'm 58. You know, if I die at 80, I'll still be working on this project. And I'll be happy doing it.” 
~George Bent, Sidney Gause Childress Professor of Art, on his project, "Florence As It Was"

Bringing Italy to Lexington:

• Travel back to "Florence As It Was" with the digital reconstruction of the Medieval City.
• "Public Painting and Visual Culture in Early Republican Florence"[New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016]
• "Monastic Art in Lorenzo Monaco's Florence: Painting and Patronage in Santa Maria degli Angeli, 1300-1415" [Lewiston, NY, 2006]
• "Gothic Art with Charles Minott" [Boulder, 2002]
• In the works: "From Panel to Parchment: The Golden Age of Florentine Manuscript Painting"
• Jackson Pollock, Lucifer painting
• Rembrandt's "The Jewish Bride" (George would rename the piece to "Cavalier in a Brothel")
• In the classroom with George!
  • Leonardo de Vinci and the Italian High Renaissance, "The Great Courses"
  • Medieval Art in Southern Europe
  • Medieval Art in Northern Europe
  • Gothic Art in Northern Europe
  • Northern Renaissance Art
  • Medieval Art in Italy
  • Italian Renaissance Art
  • Early Renaissance Art in Florence
  • The High Renaissance in Italy
  • Approaches to Art History