Discover the new techniques and materials that enabled advances in artistic creativity during the Italian Renaissance, in the unrivalled collection of the V&A’s Renaissance galleries.

The Italian Renaissance saw an explosion of artistic creativity based on new ways of using traditional materials. This course will take a different material theme for each of three classes which will all be taught in the Renaissance Galleries of the V&A. Using this unrivalled collection of Italian Renaissance objects, we will look closely at the use of three key materials in this period, clay, wood and silk, in the making of novel art and decorative objects. We will explore how consumer demand for new types of objects sparked this innovation in creative techniques, how craftsmen responded and how manufacturing developed to fulfil the aspiration for new ways of living.

A meeting point for the session will be emailed to you at least one week before the session.