BBC - The Private Life of a Masterpiece - Part 2: Seventeenth Century Masters (2004)

This award-winning series, Private Life of a Masterpiece, reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world. The works of art featured here are both instantly familiar and profoundly mysterious. Revolutionary in their conception, and iconic years after their execution, they each have their own compelling stories. For behind the beautiful canvases and sculptures are tales of political revolution, wartime escapes, massive ego clashes, social scandal, financial wrangling and shocking violence. In this fascinating series key works of art are investigated and the intricate details of their lives revealed - the history, contemporary reactions, and legacies of each are illustrated.


This engaging series of art documentaries investigates the stories behind classic works by three masters of 17th-century painting: Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer of Holland and Diego Velazquez of Spain. A Dutch military company sets out in Rembrandt's The Night Watch, Vermeer celebrates his own medium in The Art of Painting, and the goddess of love regards herself in a mirror held by Cupid in Velazquez's The Rokeby Venus.


Why should a painting of a group of part-time Amsterdam militiamen, dressed up for an occasion that wasn't serious anyway, have become the most revered painting in Holland? The full story of Rembrandt's masterpiece.




Of all Vermeer's paintings, it was probably this picture that he held in greatest esteem. It was the painting he used to show off his skills to customers. A customer three centuries after he died was none other than Adolf Hitler




She's been called 'the most smackable bum in art'. Velazquez's portrait of a young woman lying naked on a couch gazing at her reflection in a mirror held by Cupid has an extraordinary story