The Fitzwilliam Museum Podcasts

Museum Director Dr Timothy Potts provides a personal introduction to this spectacular collection of 2000 year-old tomb and temple treasures from Ancient Georgia - the land to which the Greek hero Jason is fabled to have led the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. This podcast looks at highlights from the exhibition, from ancient gold and silver jewellery to bronze sculpture and other magnificent funerary items. (This exhibition was shown at The Fitzwilliam Museum 2 October 2008 - 4 January 2009.)

Discover how the grounds of the Fitz were transformed for the second year running by this new display of contemporary sculpture. See behind-the-scenes photos and time-lapse footage showing how the Promenade was installed, and hear interviews with Museum Director Timothy Potts and the sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld, as well as featured sculptors Rob Ward, Angela Conner, Nick Turvey, Ann Christopher and Nick Hornby.

Italian-born contemporary printmaker Lino Mannocci discusses the exhibition 'Clouds and Myths: Monotypes by Lino Mannocci' (9 February - 9 May 2010) - a haunting collection of works exploring the world of myth and its resonance. In this podcast, Mannocci talks about his enduring fascinating with the theme of the Annunication, and takes us behind the scenes of the printmaking process.

Charles Darwin's mother Susannah Wedgwood died when he was just eight, and he could never remember her face - until he discovered a long-hidden portrait of her as a young woman. Hear Darwin's great-great-grandson Randal Keynes explain why finally seeing this miniature of his mother (on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum) was so significant for the great naturalist, and why portraits of loved ones were so important to both the Wedgwood and Darwin families.

What motivates Maggi Hambling to create her huge sea paintings? The artist discusses her exhibition of wave portraits at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and reveals her enduring fascination with the North Sea by her Suffolk home.

Exploring exquisite Persian manuscript art inspired by the world's longest poem: the Shahnameh, or 'Book of Kings'. 1000 years ago in Persia the world's longest poem was written: the Shahnameh, or 'Book of Kings'. This epic inspired some of the most exquisite manuscript art ever produced - miniature masterpieces that on show at the Fitzwilliam Museum in the exhibition Epic of the Persian Kings: The Art of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh (11 September 2010 -- 9 January 2011). In this podcast, Charles Melville (Professor of Persian History at the University of Cambridge) explores why the Shahnameh is still so important, and why its fantastical stories have endured over a milennium.

Get an insider's view of the Fitzwilliam Museum's new-look Greek & Roman gallery with curator Lucilla Burn and classics professor Mary Beard, as they discuss what went on behind the scenes of the recent redisplay, and reveal some of the untold histories behind these incredible ancient objects.

What evolutionary purpose does beauty serve? And why does the idea of 'female mate choice' not hold true when it comes to primates and humans? From peacocks' tails to the kinds of sexual signals we can't even see, evolutionary biologist Professor Tim Clutton-Brock explores Darwin's theory of sexual selection.

The Descent of Man would forever change the way we thought about ourselves and where we come from but how accurate was Darwin in his ideas about human evolution? Professor Robert Foley, Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies explores how 19th-century society viewed ideas of 'early man', and reveals how far our knowledge has progressed since Darwin sketched his 'evolutionary tree'.