Civilisation
Sir Kenneth Clarke guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.
- 1969-1970
- 1 season
- Time Life Films
- Documentary, Music, Action & Adventure
- TV-G
Sir Kenneth Clarke guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 1969
Episode 1
The Skin of Our Teeth
49 mins
Sir Kenneth Clark begins his classic 1969 series on the history of civilisation with the re-establishment of civilisation in Western Europe, in the tenth century after the fall of Rome to barbarism. He travels from Byzantine Ravenna to the Celtic Hebrides examining aqueducts, cathedrals, the lives of the Vikings and of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne.
Episode 2
The Great Thaw
48 mins
Kenneth Clark surveys the 12th century and the rise of Gothic architecture. Films show the Romanesque design in the abbeys of Cluny and Moissac; the wedding of Romanesque and early Gothic in the Abbey of Vezelay; Gothic windows of the Abbey of St. Denis; and the Chartres Cathedral.
Episode 3
Romance and Reality
49 mins
"Romance and Reality" traces the achievements of the later Middle Ages in France and Italy. Dante and St. Francis of Assisi are studied as representatives of religious faith. Giotto's paintings mirror the rise of capitalism. Host Kenneth Clark examines art treasures on a tour from a castle on the Loire to the cathedrals at Pisa.
Episode 4
Man: The Measure of All Things
49 mins
Kenneth Clark continues his personal reflections on civilisation with a look at Renaissance man. Clark visits Florence, where the resurrection of a classical past first gave a new impetus to European thought, and then journeys to the palaces of Urbino and Mantua, where the Renaissance manifested itself in glorious architecture. He talks of Humanism and of perspective, of Donatello, Botticelli and Van Eyck.
Episode 5
The Hero as Artist
49 mins
Kenneth Clark continues his personal reflections on civilisation with a look at Papal Rome in the early 16th Century. Three great artists, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci are the chief protagonists in Clark's 'Individuals of Genius' theme. It takes him through the gardens and courtyards of the Vatican to the rooms decorated for the Pope by Raphael, and to the Sistine Chapel.
Episode 6
Protest and Communication
50 mins
Examining protest and communication, Kenneth Clarke explores the Reformation - Luther and Durer's Germany, and Shakespeare's England.
Episode 7
Grandeur and Obedience
48 mins
"Grandeur and Obedience" describes Rome during the Protestant Reformation. While Northern Europe challenges the Catholic Church, Rome begins a counter-Reformation. Kenneth Clark views baroque Rome, with the works of Bernini, Titian and Rubens, who blended sensuality and spirituality.
Episode 8
The Light of Experience
49 mins
Kenneth Clarke discusses the importance of light in 17th-century Dutch painting, and the rapid pace of scientific discovery in the London of the Royal Society.
Episode 9
The Pursuit of Happiness
50 mins
Kenneth Clarke looks at the rococo style in 18th-century music and architecture.
Episode 10
The Smile of Reason
48 mins
Tracing the Age of Enlightenment, from its birth in Parisian literary salons (visited by Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau) to its influence on the founding fathers. Included: views of sculptures by Houdon, paintings by Moreau le Jeune and Chardin; the palaces of Versailles and Blenheim; Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.
Episode 11
The Worship of Nature
49 mins
Kenneth Clarke discusses changing views of God and nature in the 18th century.
Episode 12
The Fallacies of Hope
49 mins
The Romantic Movement of the 18th and 19th centuries. Historian Kenneth Clark recalls the movement's key figures and artistic expressions: Napoleon; Beethoven's "Fidelio"; Byron's poems; and the anti-rational works of Blake, Gericault, David, Delacroix and Rodin.
Episode 13
Heroic Materialism
51 mins
To conclude this landmark series, Kenneth Clark considers the ways in which the heroic materialism of the past hundred years has been linked to an equally remarkable increase in humanitarianism. The achievement of engineers and scientists such as Brunel and Rutherford has been matched by the work of great reformers like Wilberforce and Shaftesbury. As Clark notes, the concept of kindness only became important in the last century.
