Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Holy Thorn Reliquary | 20100705 | Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things. This week he is exploring the sophisticated ways that people expressed religious yearning in the 14th and 15th centuries. He is looking at the statues of gods and ancestors - in India, Mexico and on Easter Island - and he describes the importance of icon painting in the Orthodox Church.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a reliquary made for a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
| 01 | Holy Thorn Reliquary | 20100705 | 20210712 (R4) | Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things. This week he is exploring the sophisticated ways that people expressed religious yearning in the 14th and 15th centuries. He is looking at the statues of gods and ancestors - in India, Mexico and on Easter Island - and he describes the importance of icon painting in the Orthodox Church.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a reliquary made for a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 02 | Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy | 20100706 | This week Neil MacGregor's world history as told through objects is describing how people expressed devotion and connection with the divine in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Today he is with an icon from Constantinople that looks back in history to celebrate the overthrow of iconoclasm and the restoration of holy images in AD 843 - a moment of triumph for the Orthodox branch of the Christian Church. This icon shows the annual festival of orthodoxy celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent, with historical figures of that time and a famous depiction of the Virgin Mary.
The American artist Bill Viola responds to the icon and describes the special characteristics of religious painting. And the historian Diarmaid MacCulloch describes the often troubled relationship between the Church and the images it has produced.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a 14th century icon from the Byzantine Empire. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
| 02 | Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy | 20100706 | 20210713 (R4) | This week Neil MacGregor's world history as told through objects is describing how people expressed devotion and connection with the divine in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Today he is with an icon from Constantinople that looks back in history to celebrate the overthrow of iconoclasm and the restoration of holy images in AD 843 - a moment of triumph for the Orthodox branch of the Christian Church. This icon shows the annual festival of orthodoxy celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent, with historical figures of that time and a famous depiction of the Virgin Mary.
The American artist Bill Viola responds to the icon and describes the special characteristics of religious painting. And the historian Diarmaid MacCulloch describes the often troubled relationship between the Church and the images it has produced.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a 14th century icon from the Byzantine Empire. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 03 | Shiva and Parvati sculpture | 20100707 | The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London is back in India. This week Neil MacGregor is with the gods - exploring the sophistication of religious art in the 14th and 15th centuries, as people around the world sought ways of finding physical expression for devotion and for representing the divine.
Today Neil is with a magnificent stone sculpture showing the powerful deity Shiva with his consort Parvati seated on his knee - two of the most beloved and familiar figures of Hinduism. The vehicles of the deities, a bull and a lion, and their children sit at their feet, while a host of supporting musicians and attendants swirl around their heads. Neil considers how images like this help cement the relationship between deity and devotee.
The writer Karen Armstrong considers the special relationship between male and female aspects in spiritual practice while the Hindu cleric Shaunaka Rishi Das explores the particular characteristics of Shiva and Parvati and considers the religious significance of their union.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a stone sculpture of the Hindu deity Shiva and his consort Parvati. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
| 03 | Shiva and Parvati sculpture | 20100707 | 20210714 (R4) | The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London is back in India. This week Neil MacGregor is with the gods - exploring the sophistication of religious art in the 14th and 15th centuries, as people around the world sought ways of finding physical expression for devotion and for representing the divine.
Today Neil is with a magnificent stone sculpture showing the powerful deity Shiva with his consort Parvati seated on his knee - two of the most beloved and familiar figures of Hinduism. The vehicles of the deities, a bull and a lion, and their children sit at their feet, while a host of supporting musicians and attendants swirl around their heads. Neil considers how images like this help cement the relationship between deity and devotee.
The writer Karen Armstrong considers the special relationship between male and female aspects in spiritual practice while the Hindu cleric Shaunaka Rishi Das explores the particular characteristics of Shiva and Parvati and considers the religious significance of their union.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a stone sculpture of the Hindu deity Shiva and his consort Parvati. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 04 | Statue of Huastec goddess | 20100708 | The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London is in Mexico. This week Neil MacGregor is meeting the Gods - exploring the sophistication of religious art in the 14th and 15th centuries as people around the world created physical expressions for devotion and for representing the divine.
Today he is with a striking sandstone sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of present day Mexico. This remarkable figure stands bare breasted with hands folded over her stomach and wearing a remarkable fan-shaped headdress. She has been associated with the later Aztec goddess of sexuality and fertility.
The writer Marina Warner describes the power of the goddess figure in matters of fertility and sexuality while the art historian Kim Richter describes the particular nature of Huastec society and sculpture.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with the sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of Mexico. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
| 04 | Statue of Huastec goddess | 20100708 | 20210715 (R4) | The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London is in Mexico. This week Neil MacGregor is meeting the Gods - exploring the sophistication of religious art in the 14th and 15th centuries as people around the world created physical expressions for devotion and for representing the divine.
Today he is with a striking sandstone sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of present day Mexico. This remarkable figure stands bare breasted with hands folded over her stomach and wearing a remarkable fan-shaped headdress. She has been associated with the later Aztec goddess of sexuality and fertility.
The writer Marina Warner describes the power of the goddess figure in matters of fertility and sexuality while the art historian Kim Richter describes the particular nature of Huastec society and sculpture.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with the sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of Mexico. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 05 | Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island statue | 20100709 | This week Neil MacGregor is exploring the sophisticated ways in which people connected to gods and ancestors in the Middle Ages. He is looking at religious images from India, France, Mexico and Turkey.
Today - in the last programme of the second series - he is with one of the most instantly recognisable sculptures in the world: one of the giant stone heads that were made on Easter Island in the South Eastern Pacific Ocean. These deeply mysterious objects lead Neil to consider why they were made and why many were ultimately thrown down.
What was the Easter Islanders understanding of their gods and their ancestors? Steve Hooper, an expert on the arts of the Pacific, and the internationally renowned sculptor Sir Anthony Caro both respond to this monumental work of devotion.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with one of the extraordinary giant figures from Easter Island. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
| 05 | Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island statue | 20100709 | 20210716 (R4) | This week Neil MacGregor is exploring the sophisticated ways in which people connected to gods and ancestors in the Middle Ages. He is looking at religious images from India, France, Mexico and Turkey.
Today - in the last programme of the second series - he is with one of the most instantly recognisable sculptures in the world: one of the giant stone heads that were made on Easter Island in the South Eastern Pacific Ocean. These deeply mysterious objects lead Neil to consider why they were made and why many were ultimately thrown down.
What was the Easter Islanders understanding of their gods and their ancestors? Steve Hooper, an expert on the arts of the Pacific, and the internationally renowned sculptor Sir Anthony Caro both respond to this monumental work of devotion.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with one of the extraordinary giant figures from Easter Island. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |