BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 67: Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy 6 Jul 2010
Icon from Constantinople showing the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, tells the story of the overthrow of iconoclasm and the restoration of holy images in AD 843, a moment of triumph for the Orthodox...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 68: Shiva and Parvati Sculpture 7 Jul 2010
Indian temple statue of divine Hindu couple, Shiva and Parvati. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, discusses a magnificent stone sculpture showing two of the most beloved and familiar figures of Hinduism. The vehicles of the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 69: Statue of Huastec Goddess 8 Jul 2010
Stone statue made in Mexico and associated with two goddesses. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor examines a sandstone sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of present-day Mexico. The figure stands bare breasted...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 70: Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island Statue 9 Jul 2010
Moai statue from the Island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, looks at one of the most instantly recognisable sculptures in the world: a giant stone carving from Easter Island in...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 71: Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent 13 Sept 2010
Personal signature of the great Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum examines this monogram which is the ultimate expression of Suleiman's authority at this time - a stamp of state and...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 72: Ming Banknote 14 Sept 2010
A surviving example of one of the world's first paper banknotes - much bigger than the notes of today and dated 1375. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explains how paper money comes about. While the rest of the world was...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 73: Inca Gold Llama 15 Sept 2010
A simple, gold sculpture of a llama. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum examines the animal that helped fuel the success of the great Inca Empire, which ruled over some 12 million people along the Pacific West Coast of...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 74: Jade Dragon Cup 16 Sept 2010
Jade cup that belonged to one of the great leaders of the Timurid Empire. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of a cup once owned by Ulugh Beg, who built the great observatory in Samakand and has a crater on...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 75: Durer's Rhinoceros 17 Sept 2010
Albrecht Durer's famous engraving of an Indian rhino. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of one of the most enduring objects in art history, and one of the most duplicated: Durer's image of a rhino - an...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 76: The Mechanical Galleon
A small automaton, shaped like a galleon. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the impact of travel, trade and conquest in Western Europe between 1450 and 1600. This object shaped like the galleon that the Spanish...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 77: Benin Plaque the Oba With Europeans 21 Sept 2010
Plaque showing aspects of Benin court life. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines some of Africa's most famous artworks, the Benin Plaques, and the effect these brass portraits first had when they arrived in London at...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 78: Double Headed Serpent 22 Sept 2010
Turquoise ornament shaped as a serpent. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, describes the Aztecs, who created this double-headed serpent from tiny pieces of turquoise, and the Spanish conquest of their culture. Aztec...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 79: Kakiemon Elephants 23 Sept 2010
A pair of Japanese porcelain elephants. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum looks at how the skill of porcelain production spread across the Far East. Kakiemon, named after a Japanese potter, was much desired by the European...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 80: Pieces of Eight 24 Sept 2010
15th Century silver coins. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines pieces of eight - rough silver coins that were to become an international currency as Spain's trade with the world grew in the 15th and 16th centuries....
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 81: Shi'a Religious Parade Standard 27 Sept 2010
Religious parade standard from Iran. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the development of faiths about 400 years ago, beginning with a standard from Iran that was carried at the front of processions as a symbol of...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 82: Miniature of a Mughal Prince 28 Sept 2010
Miniature showing encounter between an Indian Mughal prince and a holy man. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at a 17th-century miniature and uses it to explore the religious tolerance encouraged by the rulers of...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 83: Shadow Puppet of Bima 29 Sept 2010
Puppet from the Indonesian island of Java. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the relationship between religion and society in South East Asia 400 years ago by examining a shadow puppet from Java. He talks to a...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 84: Mexican Codex Map 30 Sept 2010
Map showing details of the foundation of two towns in Mexico. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines an old map, or codex, that illustrates Spain's zeal for building churches after conquering Mexico in the 16th century....
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 85: Reformation Centenary Broadsheet 1 Oct 2010
Broadsheet depicting the Reformation of the Christian Church. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines a broadsheet souvenir, commissioned in Saxony in 1617 to raise morale on the centenary of the Protestant Reformation....
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 86: Akan Drum 4 October 2010
18th century African drum. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines an African drum that was taken to America during the slave trade- where drumming was to prove an important cultural influence. The object was later...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 87: Hawaiian Feather Helmet 5 Oct 2010
Feather helmet worn by Hawaiian chief. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines a chieftain's helmet given to Captain James Cook after he landed in Hawaii in 1778. He looks at the impact of Cook's mapping and collecting...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 88: North American Buckskin Map 6 Oct 2010
Map of the area between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the differing attitudes towards land and living of Europeans and Native Americans in the 18th century. He looks at a...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 89: Australian Bark Shield 7 Oct 2010
Aboriginal shield collected by Captain Cook. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at a shield owned by one of the first Indigenous Australians to set eyes on Europeans, as they descended on Botany Bay in 1770. What can...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 90: Jade Bi 8 Oct 2010
Inscribed jade disc. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores life in 18th-century China through a jade disc, or bi. This disc was owned by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty at a time when the country's culture was...