Athens: The Cult of the Body

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)

To register for the online course only - click here

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

Online course + Athens experience (combined package) €2,320 Full pre-study + guided on-site immersion.

Lecturer’s Biography

Aliki Braine

Aliki Braine (b. 1976, Paris) is an artist and art historian. She studied at The Ruskin School of Fine Art, Oxford, The Slade School and The Courtauld Institute, London where she was awarded a distinction for her theses on 17th century painting. She has been working for The National Gallery for 25 years and teaches for Christie’s Education, The Wallace Collection, The Arts Society and numerous private clients. Aliki is also a practicing artist who taught at Camberwell College of Art and Westminster University and who regularly exhibits her work internationally.