Andrew Graham-Dixon embarks on a quest to find the origins of the Renaissance. His journey takes him to Macedonia, the Low Countries and Venice, revealing a complex tapestry of influences. Show more

Andrew Graham-Dixon examines the millennial anxiety of 1499, which fractured the Universal Church, culminating in the Sack of Rome that dealt a brutal death-blow to the Roman Renaissance. Show more

Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the 15th century princely courts of Italy in the city states of Florence, Urbino and Ferrara, and the part they played in the emergence of the modern artist. Show more

Andrew Graham-Dixon visits Venice. The city, founded by refugees and made rich through foreign trade, became the source of the greatest painters of light and colour. Show more

Andrew Graham-Dixon visits Florence, where he puts the city's claim to be the cradle of the Renaissance to the test. He looks at works by Michelangelo, Donatello, Masaccio and Ghiberti. Show more

Andrew Graham-Dixon concludes the series by asking how the Renaissance came to an end and examining its legacy. He argues that cinema has inherited many of its key qualities. Show more