Secret Knowledge
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In a personal tribute, British soul singer Laura Mvula travels to New York to celebrate the Nina Simone songs that mean most to her and explore their musical roots.
30:00Lucy Worsley tells the story of Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, it became the pleasure palace of playboy Cavalier William Cavendish.
30:00Clemency Burton-Hill indulges in her lifelong passion for the violin as she explores the mysterious life and lasting influence of legendary violin maker Antonio Stradivari.
Episodes 2022
Stuart Kelly gets behind-the-scenes access as over 13,000 treasures are moved back into Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford House.
30:00Lars Tharp appeals to the nation to help him recover a rare piece of long-lost William Hogarth memorabilia - a precious terracotta sculpture of the artist's beloved pet pug.
Episodes 2020 30:00
30:00Through interpretations of some Swedish archaeological treasures now on display in Edinburgh, Dr Janina Ramirez looks at Viking culture and its lasting influence on Britain.
Episodes 2018
Episodes 2016 30:00
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Actor and antiquarian book dealer Neil Pearson travels to Paris to discover one of the most important - and least likely - figures in 20th century literature - Jack Kahane. A short-sighted dandy from Manchester, Kahane combined a career selling low-grade smut with publishing some of the most significant works of avant-gard... 30:00 Expired
Writer and classicist Natalie Haynes leads us on a journey into ancient beauty and modern glamour, examining how our current obsession with the body beautiful goes back thousands of years to an era of stunning artistic achievement. With unique access to the British Museum's major exhibition which opens on March 26th, Hayne... 30:00 Expired
Throughout their artistic career, Jake and Dinos Chapman have returned again and again to a single artwork by the great Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. The Disasters of War are a set of 83 etchings that offer a harrowing account of the atrocities of the Peninsular War (1807-14), but for Jake Chapman they are much more th...Episodes 2015 30:00
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November 1, 2015 of the TV-show Secret Knowledge was broadcast by BBC4 on Sunday 1 November 2015 at 19:30. 30:00 Expired
World-leading cosmologist Professor Sir Roger Penrose is more than just a fan of MC Escher's mind-bending art. During the course of a long creative collaboration, the British mathematician and the Dutch artist exchanged ideas and inspirations. Some of Escher's most iconic images have their origin in Penrose's mathematical ... 30:00 Expired
As the popularity of collecting fairs and Pinterest would attest, we are a nation of magpie obsessions. Renaissance expert Professor Nandini Das reveals the story behind the Cabinet of Curiosities - the original collecting craze that began in Renaissance Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, and which is experiencing a su... 30:00 Expired
Lauren Child, author, illustrator and creator of Charlie & Lola, has a secret passion - dolls' houses. She's been working on her own dolls' house for the past 30 years and her lifelong obsession continues to inspire her ideas and shape her work. But why do these interior worlds have the power to cast a spell beyond childho... 30:00 Expired
A forgotten literary masterpiece celebrating the majesty of the Cairngorm mountains is the subject of this documentary presented by travel writer Robert MacFarlane. 30:00 Expired
Jools Holland tells the remarkable story of his father-in-law Rory McEwen - aristocrat, artist, folk singer and pioneering TV presenter, and the man who brought the blues to Britain. Illustrated with rare archive and McEwen's own beautiful paintings, the programme features contributions from an eclectic cast including Van ...Episodes 2014 30:00
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The story behind a trove of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewels discovered in London in 1912.Episodes 2013
Helen Rosslyn profiles troubled 17th century printmaker and draftsman Giovanni Castiglione
An insight into the life and work of the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois.
A look at why witches have cast such a powerful spell over generations of artists.