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Civilizations

The Cult of Progress

Season 1 Episode 8

Examine the rise and fall of “progress” as an ideology, and see how the “civilizing” project that arose from Enlightenment ideas was fraught with contradictions that troubled European artists in different ways.

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Civilizations Season 1
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52:50
Explore art in the age of revolution, war and profound scientific change.
Color and Light
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52:44
Explore light and color in art in the search for greater realism and spiritual ecstasy.
Paradise on Earth
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53:00
Explore one of humanity’s deepest artistic urges: the depiction of nature.
Renaissances
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53:20
Travel east and west— to Renaissance Italy and the contemporaneous Islamic empires.
Encounters
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53:30
See how art became the great interface when distant cultures met for the first time.
God and Art
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53:20
Consider how religion has inspired art and art has inspired divine representation.
How Do We Look?
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53:20
Explore how we look at the human body in art.
The Second Moment of Creation
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53:00
Examine the formative role of art and the creative imagination in the forging of humanity.
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