2 Audley Square
Mayfair, London W1K
UK
Established in 1994, The Course offers exciting lectures in Art History, Literature and Music.
“Our classic, the classic of all Europe, is Virgil”, said T S Eliot in 1944. 75 years on, the UK is scheduled to leave the EU, but not European culture. What better moment could there be to retrace the journey Virgil created for Aeneas: escape from the Trojan inferno, voyage to Carthage, love for Dido, abandonment of her to found a new Troy at Rome, and pilgrimage to the Underworld, a golden bough as passport. Artists picture it all as if they travelled with him.
The Landing in Italy, a Latin War, and a Shield from Vulcan (vii, viii, ix)
They pass Circe’s island, reach the Tiber’s mouth, and send an embassy to King Latinus, who offers Aeneas his daughter Lavinia in marriage. Juno and the Fury Allecto goad the Latins, led by Turnus, to war with the Trojans. Aeneas is divinely inspired to seek allies. The Trojan camp is invaded. Bourgeois, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Claude, de Lairesse, del Po, Desprez, Regnault, Serrur, Solimena.