The Private Life of a Masterpiece - Season 6
Season 6
Episodes
Jan Van Eyck: The Annunciation
The first moment in the Christmas story is the arrival of the Archangel Gabriel to tell Mary that she has been chosen to give birth to the son of God. Many painters have depicted this event, none better than the great Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck.
As befits a man who seems to mixed espionage in with painting for his patron, Eyck's picture is full of symbols and half-concealed messages. It has an extraordinary after-life - sold by the Soviets against the wishes of the Hermitage and bought by a secretive American millionaire who hid it away in a cellar.
Pieter Breugel: Census at Bethlehem
Arguably the painting that invented the snowy Christmas card scene, the Census at Bethlehem is a picture that depicts the arrival of Mary and Joseph at Bethlehem But it also a portrays Netherlands village under the grip of a cruel winter and under the hammer of a foreign army. The picture teems with human life as the best Breughels do, but it also speaks to the 21st century in an extraordinary way.
Paul Gauguin: God's Child
This is a Nativity, and since it is by Paul Gauguin, it is modern and fresh like few recent nativities. This painting is intensely personal. The Madonna is Gauguin's young Polynesian mistress, who was pregnant with his child. It is a brilliant departure in other ways from traditional nativities, relevant to the contemporary world.
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Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta
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Providence Falls
In 1844 Ireland, Liam O'Conner, a rogue and a thief, falls in love with Cora McLeod, a fiery but sheltered aristocrat's daughter, who is promised in marriage to a man she barely knows. Their plan to make a new life together in America is thwarted, and the consequences of Liam and Cora's unlikely love ripples through time, causing everyone to relive the events of the past. Now the Angels of Destiny need Liam's help to set things right and if he doesn't succeed, his very soul is on the line. They transport Liam to present day to help this incarnation of Cora fall in love with Finn, the man she was destined to marry in 1844. Liam would give anything to reunite with his beloved Cora but only he retains the memories of their past together. Now a cop in Providence Falls, Oregon, Cora feels an inexplicable connection to Liam, who is introduced as her new partner. And as they tackle a big case together, Liam sees the same passion and adventurous nature in Cora that he had fallen in love with. With everyone's lives at stake, Liam must overcome unexpected and otherworldly obstacles in his mission. Perhaps none as powerful as his own undying love for Cora.