Waldemar Januszczak discusses the background to important works of art, revealing why they were created and what they were intended to convey.
Season 1, Episode 1 - "Mr. and Mrs. Andrews" by Thomas Gainsborough
Januszczak begins by analysing Gainsborough's painting Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, which contains subversive elements at odds with its idyllic subject matter, and appears to have been deliberately left unfinished. In his portrait of two aristocratic 18th-century British landowners, Gainsborough may have intended to depict bird carcasses in the unfinished area in the ladyпїЅs lap as a not-so-subtle comment on the coupleпїЅs marriage and social position. Season 1, Episode 2 - "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp" by Rembrandt van Rijn
The background to Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp, which depicts the dissection of the body of a hanged criminal. Such public rituals were popular in Amsterdam during the 17th century, and Januszczak shows how the artist created an exciting image that broke with convention. Rembrandt suggests Christian iconography in his portrait of a criminalпїЅs cadaver and puts us, the viewers, in the position of the audience often depicted in such paintings.

Season 1, Episode 3 - "The Tempest" by Giorgione
In The Tempest, Giorgione depicts the ancient Greek story of the goddess Demeter and her mortal lover Iasion, whom Zeus struck down with a lightning bolt. Januszcak reveals the backgroundпїЅof perhaps the most representative of the artist's few surviving worksпїЅand proposes a new theory about its meaning.

Season 1, Episode 4 - "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli
The creation of Botticelli's iconic The Birth of Venus, which depicts the Roman goddess of love emerging from the sea, and went on to inspire Ursula Andress's famed first appearance in the James Bond film Dr No. Botticelli depicts Venus not as a primarily erotic figure, but as a symbol of fertility. The clues to the origins of this piece lie deep in mythological literature.