Storyline

Sir Kenneth Clark 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.

First Aired

1969-02-23
Last Aired

1969-05-18
Creator

Kenneth Clark
Genre

Documentary
Seasons

1
Episodes

13
Status

Ended
Language

English
Network

BBC Two

Keywords:

cultural

Stream and watch Civilisation

Season 1

1. The Skin of Our Teeth

In this the first episode Clark travels from Byzantine Ravenna to the Celtic Hebrides, from the Norway...More

In this the first episode Clark travels from Byzantine Ravenna to the Celtic Hebrides, from the Norway of the Vikings to Charlemagne's chapel at Aachen, telling his story of the Dark Ages; the six centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire.Less

50mins 1969-02-23

2. The Great Thaw

In the second episode Clark tells of the sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the twelfth ce...More

In the second episode Clark tells of the sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the twelfth century . He traces it from its first manifestations in the Abbey of Cluny to its high point, the building of the Chartres cathedral.Less

50mins 1969-03-02

3. Romance and Reality

Beginning at a castle in the Loire, then travelling through the hills of Tuscany and Umbria to the cat...More

Beginning at a castle in the Loire, then travelling through the hills of Tuscany and Umbria to the cathedral baptistry at Pisa as he examines both the aspirations and achievements of the later Middle Ages in France and Italy.Less

50mins 1969-03-09

4. Man: The Measure of all Things

Visiting Florence, where, Clark argues, European thought gained a new impetus from its rediscovery of ...More

Visiting Florence, where, Clark argues, European thought gained a new impetus from its rediscovery of its classical past. He also visits the palaces at Urbino and Mantua, other centres of (Renaissance) civilisation.Less

50mins 1969-03-16

5. The Hero as Artist

Here Clark takes us back to 16th century Papal Rome noting the convergence of Christianity and antiqui...More

Here Clark takes us back to 16th century Papal Rome noting the convergence of Christianity and antiquity. He discusses Michelangelo, Raphael, and da Vinci, the courtyards of the Vatican, the rooms decorated for the Pope by Raphael, and the Sistine Chapel.Less

50mins 1969-03-23

6. Protest and Communication

Here Clark takes us back to the Reformation. That is to the Germany of Albrecht Duerer and Martin Luth...More

Here Clark takes us back to the Reformation. That is to the Germany of Albrecht Duerer and Martin Luther, the world of the humanitarians Erasmus, Montaigne, and Shakespeare.Less

50mins 1969-03-30

7. Grandeur and Obedience

Again in Rome of Michelangelo and Bernini, Clark tells of the Catholic Church's fight against the Prot...More

Again in Rome of Michelangelo and Bernini, Clark tells of the Catholic Church's fight against the Protestant north, the Counter-Reformation and the Church's new splendour symbolized by the glory of St. Peter's.Less

50mins 1969-04-06

8. The Light of Experience

Here Clark tells of new worlds in space and in a drop of water that the telescope and microscope revea...More

Here Clark tells of new worlds in space and in a drop of water that the telescope and microscope revealed, and the new realism in the Dutch paintings which took the observation of human character to a higher stage of development.Less

50mins 1969-04-13

9. The Pursuit of Happiness

Here Clark talks of the harmonious flow and complex symmetries of the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn and...More

Here Clark talks of the harmonious flow and complex symmetries of the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart — and the reflection of these in the Rococo churches and palaces of Bavaria.Less

50mins 1969-04-20

10. The Smile of Reason

Here Clark discusses the Age of Enlightenment tracing it from the polite conversations in the elegant ...More

Here Clark discusses the Age of Enlightenment tracing it from the polite conversations in the elegant Parisian salons of eighteenth-century, through the subsequent revolutionary politics to the great European palaces of Blenheim and Versailles finally to Jefferson's Monticello.Less

50mins 1969-04-27

11. The Worship of Nature

Belief in the divinity of nature, Clark argues, usurped Christianity's position as the chief creative ...More

Belief in the divinity of nature, Clark argues, usurped Christianity's position as the chief creative force in Western civilisation and ushered in the Romantic movement. Here Clark visits Tintern Abbey, the Alps, and there discusses the landscapes of Turner and Constable.Less

50mins 1969-05-04

12. The Fallacies of Hope

Here Clark argues that the French Revolution led to the dictatorship of Napoleon and the dreary bureau...More

Here Clark argues that the French Revolution led to the dictatorship of Napoleon and the dreary bureaucracies of the nineteenth century and traces the disillusionment of the Romanticism artists is traced from Beethoven's, Byron's poetry, Delacroix's paintings to Rodin's sculpture.Less

50mins 1969-05-11

13. Heroic Materialism

Clark concludes the series with his discussion of materialism and humanitarianism of the past century....More

Clark concludes the series with his discussion of materialism and humanitarianism of the past century. This takes us from the industrial landscape of nineteenth century England to the skyscrapers of twentieth century New York. The achievements of the engineers and scientists - such as Brunel and Rutherford - having been matched by the great reformers like Wilberforce and Shaftsbury.Less