MENU AREA PREVIOUS EVENTS
× Home Our Society Lectures Visits & Tours Special Interest Days Tours Newsletters Diary Volunteering Gallery East Surrey Area Web Page Links Contact Us


Click here for future events

Click here for future events

08 May 2026A PARADISE GARDEN: THE MEANING OF MEDIEVAL PLANTS IN ART &THE NATURE OF THE BEAST: ANIMALS IN MEDIEVAL ART
14 November 2025Johannes Vermeer and Dutch Art
06 June 2025The Brilliance of British Architecture
08 November 2024Fine Art in the Garden
09 May 2024The Sitkovetsky Trio with Sharon Kam and Friends
12 April 2024Two Talks on Magic And Illusion in Art
10 November 2023JAPANESE ART AND THE WEST: FROM NAMBAN TO JAPONAISERIE
13 May 2023AN EVENING WITH THE SITKOVETSKY TRIO & FRIENDS With Talk by music writer and presenter Katy Hamilton
11 November 2022The Art of the Automobile
13 May 2022Passionate Patrons - Victoria & Albert and the Arts
12 November 2021From Downton to Gatsby - Jewellery and Fashion from 1890 to 1929
26 October 2021Mole Valley Arts Alive - Girls Behaving Badly: Jane Austen's Wicked Women
10 September 2021Mole Valley Heritage Open Days - Sweet Tooth: An Edible History of Art
09 July 2021The Brief Story of Wine with Wine Tasting
07 May 2021Castles - Ancient & Modern and Creating Windsor Castle - A Step-by-Step Guide (via Zoom)
13 November 2020A Virtual Tour of Shakespeare's London - A Guided Walk
08 November 2019Sir Stamford Raffles - Art Collector & Discoverer of Singapore
08 March 2019Hans Christian Andersen - Wit, Artist, Traveller
09 November 2018The Forbidden City - The Secrets of China's Imperial Palace and Museum. Menuhin Hall, Cobham Road, KT11 3QQ
09 March 2018Special Interest Morning: Historic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Reading List now available
10 March 2017Special Interest Morning -From Troy to Mycenae: In search of Homer's Heroes
11 March 2016The King, the Baker, the Architect and the Man who Buried his Cheese – The Story of the Great Fire of London
13 November 2015Special Interest Morning - Once upon a time - Children's Books through the Ages.
13 March 2015‘Fabergé’ and ‘At the Sign of the Falcon’
14 November 2014The Two Faces of Russia: Moscow and St Petersburg
14 March 2014Victorian Art: The Stories and The Scandals and Picasso and his Women
22 November 2013The 50 Greatest Artworks to see in your Lifetime
20 March 2013Palaces, Paintings and Priestesses: Life and Art on Minoan Crete and Thera
21 November 2012Of Harlots, Rakes and Crashing China and a One-Man Ceramics Roadshow

Click on a row and scroll to display more details about the event

A PARADISE GARDEN: THE MEANING OF MEDIEVAL PLANTS IN ART &THE NATURE OF THE BEAST: ANIMALS IN MEDIEVAL ART

Dr. Jonathan Foyle Friday 08 May 2026

LECTURE 1: A PARADISE GARDEN: THE MEANING OF MEDIEVAL PLANTS IN ART

Have you noticed how many medieval paintings are set in May? The language of plants evolved over the centuries to create a lexicon of creation that paved the way to Paradise, a perennial early summer where all the flowers and all the fruits emerge at the same time - but each tells us something different. We explore paintings, tapestry, manuscripts and sculpture to re-learn a lost language. 

LECTURE 2: THE NATURE OF THE BEAST: ANIMALS IN MEDIEVAL ART

Animals were central to medieval arts: we find birds, reptiles, mammals, insects and fabulous creatures in sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, paintings, tapestries and even wax seals. But what were the artists trying to tell us through the animals they portrayed? This talk explores a lost artistic language, to discover that the behaviours and legends of creatures enabled us to learn about ourselves.
 

LECTURER - DR. JONATHAN FOYLE

Dr Jonathan Foyle was Chief Executive of World Monuments Fund Britain for eight years and a Curator of Historic Buildings at Hampton Court for as long, during which time he took his 2002 PhD on reconstructing Wolsey's palace.

He is a frequent feature writer for the Financial Times on issues of architecture, history & craft, and is approaching his fourth published cathedral monograph: Canterbury, Lincoln, Lichfield - now Peterborough. 

Dr. Foyle is a presenter of numerous television series including BBC4's Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer? and BBC2's Climbing Great Buildings. He lectures frequently on a range of art-historical topics. He brings teaching experience as a former Course Director for the University of Cambridge Summer Schools and is an Honorary Professor in Conservation at the University of Lincoln.
 

Tickets £30.00 for the two talks.

  • 10 am Arrive (coffee available)
  • 10.30 First lecture
  • 11.30 Break (coffee available)
  • 12.00 Second lecture
  • 1.00pm Finish

To book your tickets: https://buytickets.at/theartssociety2/1796429

Got any questions?

Please contact us at: info@theartssocietyeastsurreyarea.org.uk

Not a member of The Arts Society yet? Join any of our 14 societies in the East Surrey Area. 

Check out the nearest society to you on the 'Societies' section.