Away in a Manger
Nativity Scenes in Italian Art & Music
Special Festive • Free Lecture
Our Gift To you
To thank all Academy Travellers for the enthusiasm they have shown for our program across the year, we're delighted to gift you a fascinating festive lecture! Our final lecture of the year, join us on the evening of Monday 16 December by booking below.
SNAPSHOT
Lecturer: Kate Bolton-Porciatti
Date: Monday 16 December, 2024
Duration: 1 hour
Start Time: 7.30pm AEDT | 6.30pm QLD | 7.00pm SA | 4.30pm WA | 9.30pm NZST
Price: Free, Donation optional
WATCH ON DEMAND
Can't make the date above? Don't worry... this lecture is recorded, allowing you to watch and revisit at your convenience for up to 21 days. Simply sign up below.
Overview
The birth of Jesus has long been explored in Italian art and music, from the earliest re-imaginings of Christ’s genesis in Bethlehem in the 4th century, through to 18th-century Naples -where nativity scenes achieved a unique resonance.
In this special Christmas lecture - a free seasonal gift from Academy Travel - cultural historian Kate Bolton Porciatti explores how artists have dramatised and elaborated upon the Biblical narrative, and the fascinating ways in which folklore and high art have intermingled within this unique artistic tradition.
This visually magnificent lecture features sculptural reliefs by the Della Robbia family; paintings by Bronzino, Domenichino, Ghirlandaio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Lippi and Guido Reni; and music by native Italians and/or composers that lived and worked in Italy, including Isaac, Monteverdi, Handel and Francesco Canova da Milano.
Your Expert lecturer
Kate Bolton-Porciatti (MPhil.) is a professor of Italian cultural history at the Istituto Lorenzo de’Medici in Florence, where she teaches BA and MA courses in the humanities. She also lectures regularly at the British Institute, Florence, and at the Chigiana Academy in Siena.
Before moving to Italy permanently in 2005, she was a senior producer and broadcaster for BBC Arts & Classical Music in London and has won prestigious Jerusalem and Sony Awards for her programs. She has published extensively as an academic, a critic and a journalist. Her MPhil thesis set the music of early 15th-century Florence in its social and cultural context.
BOOK YOUR PLACE
This lecture is free and our gift to you this year.
You may wish to make a donation to Academy Travel’s chosen charity for this Christmas (see information to the right on desktop or below on mobile).
Please fill in the form below to confirm your place. You will be sent the Zoom link for the lecture via email.
Donate with us to
'Our Big Kitchen’
On December 17th, the team at Academy Travel will be coming together to help cook and package meals for people in need and practice kindness in ‘Our Big Kitchen'.
'Our Big Kitchen' is a non-profit community kitchen located in Bondi New South Wales, that prepares and distributes more than 250,000 meals each year to people in need.
While our festive lecture is our gift to you, we welcome you to join us in donating to ‘Our Big Kitchen’. Academy Travel will match every dollar donated by our lecture participants, with all proceeds going directly to 'Our Big Kitchen’.
The team at ‘My Big Kitchen’ in 2022
How it works
Our online lectures are hosted on Zoom, a free online education platform. If you don’t already have an account with Zoom, you will need to sign up at www.zoom.us. When joining our online lectures, you will not be able to join with video or audio.
A confirmation of booking will be sent to your email including a Zoom link, along with a reminder email sent 2 hours before the lecture begins.