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We arrived in Rome, the ninth week of our incredible journey that began in January at The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It has been an amazing, fantastic, wonderful time. This is a magnificent, powerful place, a massive contrast to the quiet of Venice and it's regular, secure rhythms and wild evenings of Venice, or the text-book art, stunning scenes and sun-drenched moments of grassy peace in Florence. Rome is Living History, if it's not the power of The Imperial Foru

Joined in this terrific city by the excellent Ben Street we began our time in Piazza della Signoria on the spot where Savanorola was immolated, and continued to visit all of the great sites; much discussion about real or fake (is Luigi Arrighetti's 'David' more authentic because of its position?) "As I emerged from the porch of Santa Croce I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplati

No trip to Venice could possibly be complete without a dip at The Lido. As the sun set over the lagoon a bunch of intrepid swimmers headed out to their cooking class early. The sun may have been shining but the sea is still fresh! and as our six weeks in Venice drew to a close the bonds of friendship were tightened. Geoffrey Humphries' last Life Drawing class, Louisa Buck's wonderful express-train talks on Modern and Contemporary art and a visit to the Peggy Guggenheim Collec

As the weather continued to improve we went on two field trips; first of all to thde lagoon islands of Murano, where we visited the Zannetti glass factory to have a fascinating look into how glass is worked (they're not so much glass blowers as sculptors, with a team of highly-skilled craftsmen as work. Then to Torcello to the ancient church of Santa Maria Assunta with its sensational Last Judgement mosaic, and then to Burano for our traditional lunch of risotto di go . At th

Week D, once everyone got back from the half term break, was a welter of action. The irrepressible Leslie Primo on Tintoretto, Slavery and Vedute painting, Jeremy Sams on opera and musical theatre, and the fantastic Eva Vermandel with her photography classes. We were in Venice and with half of the course complete enjoyment was all around. Birthday cake for Tom, music and art The Schiavi drinks sessions have been fantastic, in which small groups of students gather with some

although you'd be forgiven for thinking that it has all been rain by the wonderful photo of a rather bedraggled John Hall Venice group here, as we headed for this year's Pizza Pub Quiz! In fact the weather has been improving, but with occasional setback - see above! It's also worth mentioning that, in the previous post, I'd put some photos of a wonderful opportunity that we'd had to visit the Palazzo Contarini Polignac for a memorable dance show by the Isadora Duncan Institut

Back from our fantastic trip to Ravenna and Pomposa, we had an optional visit to the fantastic Museum of Modern Art, in the sensational Ca'Pesaro, the Baroque palace of the 17th century that used to play host to the collection bought from successive Venice Biennale shows, and then the next thing on the itinerary was our drinks party in the bohemian studio of Geoffrey Humphries Oh, and in the week before our Ravenna trip, Ca'Pesaro visit and drinks party we had our private vi

yes yes, I know, I know...it's been too long, I've taken too long to get this report filed, but for some reason it's all been so hectic! We are all so delighted to be back in our wonderful lecture room in the revamped National Gallery Sainsbury Wing, which is not to say that our three years at The ICA was a banishment...but good to be home again! It was a great privilege to be welcomed, on our first day, by Sir Gabriele Finaldi, the director, and from there we launched into o

Private Visitors in The Sistine Chapel The 2025 edition of the John Hall Venice Course came to a glorious conclusion in Rome. It has been...

It's a long and extraordinary path to The Eternal City. Dimly aware of that meeting in January, when the Class of 2025 gathered in the...

Sophie; Winner of the prize and Laura; Editor and Compiler of The Yearbook We couldn't possibly leave Venice without celebrating one of...

Our lovely lecturer Louisa Buck chats with Geoffrey Humphries during the final life drawing class Our six weeks in Venice drew gently to...

Sir Michael Burton delivers his annual address Most years, the alumni of John Hall 1965 meet those of the present year. Last night we...

In front of Villa Emo Our final day out, away from Venice was blessed by glorious weather, and we had a fairly early start, catching the...

Our massively popular cookery classes continued at the home of Marika Seguso with students making pasta and chichetti , the traditional...

Sometimes it's incredible to think that 61 years ago, in 1965, a group of teenagers posed for a photograph outside the church of San...

It was a really busy week. With our half term break beginning on Thursday there was a very compressed 'mere' three days of lectures, with...

our early tour of the Accademia introduced the group to what is essentially the National Gallery of Venetian Art, from Paolo Veneziano to...

At the end of our first week in Venice there was the opportunity to take a trip to see the wonderful Ca'Pesaro, known at the Museum of...