Galla Placidia: the Empress and the Fall of Rome

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Dr Stephen Kershaw presents latest lecture from The Arts Society Chiswick

This sumptuously illustrated lecture traces the fall of the Roman Empire in the West through both its art and one of its most intriguing heroines.

At the centre of a perfect storm of Goths, Vandals, Huns and contesting Romans, stood an orphan girl of ‘nobility, beauty and chaste purity’ called Galla Placidia, half-sister of Roman Emperors, the hostage wife of a Gothic King, who became one of the world’s most powerful women. Not only did she leave her mark on the history of Rome, but she was also the driving force behind some of its most impressive art and architecture.

Stephen Kershaw is a Classics Tutor for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, Professor of History of Art for the European Studies Program of Rhodes College and The University of the South. He has spent much of the last 30 years travelling extensively in the world of the Greeks and Romans both physically and intellectually. He has published A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths (Robinson, 2007) and A Brief Guide to Classical Civilization (Robinson, 2010) and is currently working on A Brief Guide to the Roman Empire.

The lecture starts at 8pm on Thursday 8 February in the Malinova Room at The Polish Centre (POSK), 238-246 King Street, Hammersmith, W6 0RF. All are welcome and you are encouraged to arrive early to join the rest of the audience for a pre-lecture drink. Tickets cost £8 for non-members.

Forthcoming talks to be presented by Art Society Chiswick:

08 March 2018	Shakespeare: the Birth of Modern Show Business
12 April 2018	The Age of Jazz
10 May 2018	Zaha Hadid – architectural superstar
14 June 2018	The Masterpieces of Russian Opera, from Boris Godunov to Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
12 July 2018	The Magnificence of Persia: the art of Isfahan, Shiraz and ancient Persepolis
20 September 2018	The Splendours of the City Churches
11 October 2018	Played in London – charting the Heritage of a City at Play
08 November 2018	Food & Art through the Ages: From Renaissance Sugar Sculpture to 3D printing

February 2, 2018