Online Early Modern World Courses
Explore the transformative art, culture and ideas of the early modern world with City Lit’s online courses. From the brilliance of the Renaissance to the innovations of the Enlightenment, our expert-led courses offer insight into the artists, thinkers and movements that helped shape the modern era.
Discover the work of masters such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Rembrandt, and learn about the social, political and religious contexts that influenced their creations. With flexible online learning, live interactive sessions and supportive tutor feedback, you’ll deepen your understanding of this fascinating period — all from the comfort of your own home.
Our courses are open to all adults, whether you’re new to art history or looking to build on existing knowledge. Join a community of curious learners and enjoy the chance to explore the richness and complexity of early modern art and culture.
Explore our online early modern world courses today and step into one of history’s most creative and influential periods.
25 courses available
Focus on: GiottoDiscover the life and work of Giotto, was one of the earliest artists to be written about within his lifetime, his genius held up as the ideal by Italian painting critics for the next five centuries.
Online
Wed 10 Mar 2027Leslie PrimoFull fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £58.00- Friday lates: Holy woman - iconography of the Virgin Mary in early modern Italy
This one-session course explores the rich and complex iconography of the Virgin Mary in Italian art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a focus on the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. Through close analysis of paintings, the session examines how artists visualised Mary’s purity, divine role, and celestial triumph, and how these images communicated debated theological ideas and devotional practices. Key examples include works by Vasari, Titian, Caravaggio, Guido Reni, and Ludovico Cigoli.
Online
Fri 12 Mar 2027Elisa StafferiniFull fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £19.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Tintoretto - painter for the people
In the history of sixteenth-century art in Venice, the three big names are Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. Our lunchtime lecture looks at how Tintoretto managed to build a career when he had few of the advantages enjoyed by his peers, creating an impressive body of work and developing a style with which he and his studio could produce great works at great speed.
Online
Tue 16 Mar 2027Julia MusgraveFull fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico – the two monastic paintersJoin us for a close reading of the works of Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico, two of 15th century Italy's most influential artists. We study their techniques, their subject matter and how they communicated narratives in painting. Explore all the wonderful tactile visual details they added to the works.
Online
Tue 23 Mar 2027Emma Rose BarberFull fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Albrecht Dürer and the Northern RenaissanceExplore the life, works, and legacy of one of the most innovative German artists of his time: Albrecht Dürer. See how he assimilated the art of Venice into his style and exploited the possibilities of print.
Online
Mon 12 Apr 2027Leslie PrimoFull fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £58.00 - Art in 15th century SienaExplore the art, society and geography of 15th century Siena, the picturesque Tuscan republic. Expand your knowledge of the Italian Renaissance beyond the borders of Florence by studying one of its worthy artistic, political and intellectual rivals.
Online
Tue 13 Apr 2027Emma Rose BarberFull fee £189.00 Senior fee £151.00 Concession £123.00 - Titian and the Venetian Masters
An introduction to the Venetian Renaissance master Titian, his historical context and artistic peers.
Online
Fri 7 May 2027Leslie PrimoFull fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £58.00 - Teatime talks: The varied styles of the Italian Renaissance: through the lens of Pontormo and MasaccioAn in-depth online discussion about two artists that represent to different styles of the Italian Renaissance, but who may have more in common than we think.
Online
Tue 25 May 2027Emma Rose BarberFull fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Sex and the city - Hogarth and 18th century London
Hidden in the details of William Hogarth’s prints are many clues to the brutality of life in eighteenth-century London, and the ease with which riches could be gained and lost. He used humour to draw attention to issues that many would have preferred to ignore. In this lecture, we look at why the detail in his prints are so important to his story-telling and his message.
Online
Thu 17 Jun 2027Julia MusgraveFull fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Breughel – wondrous artists and their legacy
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Breughel the elder - two northern Renaissance artists, and their influence on 20th-century artists known as the Surrealists. Artists divided in time by 500 years, but who share many similarities with their strange and curious subjects and objects conjured up to ignite amazement, wonder, discussion and even outrage.
Online
Tue 6 Oct 2026Emma Rose BarberFull fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £58.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.