Art Appreciation and Art History
Ridgefield Continuing Education
Art Appreciation and Art History

Art History


Please email ridgefieldcontinuingeducation@gmail.com or phone (203) 431-2812 if you are interested in taking or teaching an Art History class.

Diego Velazquez  – The Painter’s Painter
As painter to the royal court of Spain, it was Velazquez’s role to create images of King Philip IV and his family and record major events of the era.  It was his talent to produce portraits of piercing realism and truth; it was his genius to do it through the seemingly effortless handling of sensuous paint.  An exploration of his life and masterful works is a delight for the eye and spirit.

1 Session $29 (Ridgefield Seniors and Disabled pay $25)
Wed., 6/11 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Hans Holbein - Painter to the King
In the era before photography, it was the role of the court artist to convey visual “news” both to and from the monarchs.   It was a tricky road to tread for such messengers!  How to portray Anne of Cleves, a prospective bride?  Or Sir Thomas More a foe of the king?  What if the monarch didn’t like what he saw?  What if he did, but the reality was different?  What if the monarch was the impulsive and vengeful Henry VIII?  As official painter to the Tudor court, Holbein had to be both diplomat and visual journalist, ‘though in what order is not always clear!

1 Session $29 (Ridgefield Seniors and Disabled pay $25)
Wed., 8/6 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.



Nancy Maxwell - Instructor Bio:

As a student at Cornell, Ms. Maxwell was encouraged to major in Psychology, but her interest in the humanities was always paramount, and her reading of History has taken pride of place.

As a teacher and counselor in an international school in Switzerland for more than twenty years, she had the opportunity to familiarize herself with the palaces and cathedrals of European cities, to savor the extraordinary wealth of artistic treasure that they contain, and to walk in the very footsteps of historical figures.

Her understanding of European history has been enriched as much by exhausting days walking the corridors and grounds of the Palace of Versailles as by descending to the dismal, tragic halls of the Conciergerie. It has similarly been her privilege to tramp the Parisian streets from the site of the Bastille by way of the Louvre and the Tuileries gardens to the Place de la Concorde and thence along the Champs Elyses to Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe. These experiences have provided both a mental and physical context in which people who lived centuries ago regain their humanity and tell their stories. It is her delight to share those stories with students.