Athens and the Birth of Western Art

This course and city experience form part of The Story of Art and the Cities that Helped Write It, an ambitious long-form programme exploring art history through the places where it was created, collected, transformed, and preserved. Through a combination of expert-led online learning and immersive city experiences, the programme places great works of art back into their original cultural context—revealing the people, power, ideas, and institutions that shaped them. Each individual course and city experience can be enjoyed on its own, while also contributing to a wider journey across the cities that defined the story of art.

Find our more about The Story of Art and the Cities that Helped Write It programme here

Overview

Athens stands at the beginning of the story of Western art. It was here that artists, philosophers, athletes, and statesmen helped shape one of the most enduring ideas in artistic history: the human body as an ideal of beauty, harmony, power, and intellect.

This programme explores how the ancient Greeks transformed the representation of the body into a cultural and artistic language that continues to influence art today. From the kouros figures of the Archaic period to the sculptural perfection of the Classical age, we examine how ideas of proportion, athleticism, divinity, and citizenship became embedded in art and architecture.

Duration
3 week online course (One 1 hour session per week via Zoom)

2 day Athens experience

Dates
Online Course: 2, 9, 16 Sept 2026 Wednesdays, 4pm GMT

City Tour: 25 & 26 Sept 2026 Friday & Saturday, 9:30am-5pm

Fee

Online course (per city module) €380 - 3×1-hour lectures preparing each city (collectors, context, art history framework)

Athens experience only €1950 (2 days ) Lecturer-led immersive museum + collection-focused city experience

Online course + Athens experience (combined package) €2,800 Full pre-study + guided on-site immersion for one city

Lecturer’s Biography

Aliki Braine

Born in Paris in 1976, Aliki Braine studied at The Ruskin School of Fine Art, Oxford, The Slade School of Fine Art, London, and The Courtauld Institute, where she was awarded a distinction for her master's in 17th-century painting. Aliki has been a regular lecturer at the National Gallery since 2001 and teaches at the Wallace Collection, Courtauld Gallery, and The Arts Society. She is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Fine Art Photography at the University of the Arts London. Aliki is also a practicing artist who regularly exhibits her photographic work internationally.