I was at a loose end tonight, waiting for the battery on the cordless screwdriver to charge up so I could fix the door Charlie knocked off its hinges when he tripped over – so just a normal Tuesday evening – and passed it by looking through the programmes available ‘on demand’ from the last week.
I found a programme called The Art of Spain, presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon on BBC Four, part two of a three-parter. Unfortunately catch-up on demand only goes back a week so I can’t see part one, but part two was excellent.
The BBC have found yet another presenter who is as likable as he is knowledgeable, presenting on a topic that even made Alan Yentob watchable when he tackled it. The subject was Spain between the times of Philip II/El Greco and Phillip IV/Velaquez and the relationship between the society then and its art.
Absolutely bloody fascinating. At times like this I am so glad to be under-educated so I can just gawp at this stuff and be overwhelmed and enlightened in equal measures. I already had a bit of an ambition to see the Escorial Palace, but now I am going to have to add Toledo, Trujillo and Salamanca to the list.
Especially Trujillo. Before today, if you said that name to me I would only have associated it with the new bass player in Metallica, Danny Trujillo, but now I know it is an astounding town, built with the wealth brought back from the New World by Pizarro, and still looking much as it did in the 16th century.
The amazing altarpiece of Toledo Cathedral looks like being one of the wonders of the world, and as for the relics of Saint Theresa…Â a sublimely intricate metal reliquary with its centre being a glass chamber containing the actual heart of Saint Theresa just shows what a seriously weird society it was back then in Spain.
It must have been last year when there was a rash of programmes about Velazquez that it really hit me how important Spain was around the 16th century.  At the time it must have been the most powerful, wealthy and influential country in the world, with a vast empire. It is not like that now of course, and what I was wondering is whether the Spaniards go around harking back to their empire and moaning about the loss of it the way some of us do. They could giveus some lessons about adjusting to contemporary reality and not clinging onto past glories…
Anyway. Great programme. I’ll set the recorder for the final part which should feature Goya, Dali, Picasso, and hopefully some future favourites I haven’t even heard of yet.
Actually watched that in preference to Ashes to Ashes (which was being taped) when I got in from my art class last week. I really enjoy El Greco – you cannot help but be amazed by how modern his work looks for the mid 1500’s. It is also curious how art can almost make you see the point of religion .
I don’t know about the seeing the point of religion, but I did think about the impact that altar in Toledo must have had on a 13th Century visitor. It looked overwhelming just on the TV. What must it be like in reality? Catch someone while they are in that state of awe…
The outside of the cathedral too – it looked even better than the front of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and I was totally dumbstruck just by the cast of that in the V&A.