Art of Spain - Season 1

Critic and art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels from southern to northern Spain to tell the story of some of Europe's most exciting and vital art. For 700 years, most of Spain was an Islamic state, and the south was its beating heart. Under the Moors, Spain became the most advanced, wealthy and populous country in Europe. Andrew travels to Cordoba, Seville and Granada, visiting beautiful Moorish palaces and mosques, telling the story of one of the most colourful and sophisticated cultures to ever appear in Europe.

Critic and art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels from southern to northern Spain to tell the story of some of Europe's most exciting and vital art.

He journeys to the country's scorched centre to explore Spanish art of the 16th and 17th centuries. From the mystical world of El Greco to the tender genius of Velazquez, this was a moment so extraordinary it became known as the golden age. But beneath the glittering surface was a dark and savage heart.

Travelling from the architectural jewel of Toledo to majestic Madrid, Graham-Dixon traces the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire, the brutal conquest of the New World and the religious madness of the Inquisition, to discover how a history so violent could produce some of the most beautiful art ever seen.

Critic and art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels from southern to northern Spain to tell the story of some of Europe's most exciting and vital art. In the final part, he reveals how the north of the country has produced some of the most dazzling and iconic art of the modern age. Spain's turbulent history has shaped artists from Francisco Goya to Pablo Picasso. Graham-Dixon argues that Spanish architecture is the art form now taking the nation forward in the new millennium.