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  • Dr. Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    Eleanor Barton and Aileen ‘Ninie’ Laing ’57 Professor Emeritus in Art History
    Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia, USA
    witcombe@sbc.edu

    JUMP TO books (printed) — books (digital) — fiction (digital & printed) — essays (printed) — essays (digital) — articles (printed) — conference papersinternational lecturing and travelpodcastsvideostelevisiontheatrevariouspersonal

    art historian
    Ph.D. art history, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
        Dissertation: "Giovanni and Cherubino Alberti" (1981)

    M.A. art history, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
        Thesis: "The Sorti of Francesco Marcolini da Forlì" (1976)

    B.A. Summa cum Laude, art history, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

    Painting, Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy

    research professor
    Eleanor Barton and Aileen ‘Ninie’ Laing ’57 Professor Emeritus in Art History, Sweet Briar College, Virginia, USA

    scholar & International lecturer
    Research interests include Renaissance Art, Baroque Art, Renaissance Prints, Renaissance Copyright, Archaeoaesthetics, Vision and Perception, Vision Science, Neuropsychology, Image Studies, European Art, European Visual Culture, Mediterranean Art, Mediterranean Visual Culture, Modernism, Accademia di S. Luca, Greek Art, Roman Art, Prehistoric Art, Images of Women, Feminism, Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Magdalen, Sacred Places, Polynesian Art, Victorian Painting, Water


    books (printed)

    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Eye and Art in Ancient Greece
    A Study in Archaeoaesthetics

    London/Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2018
    (256 pages, 4 b/w and 61 colour illustrations)

    Eye and Art in Ancient Greece examines the art of ancient Greece through reconstructions of how the Greeks saw and understood the products of their own visual culture. The material is approached using a newly developed methodology of archaeoaesthetics by which past modes of vision and perception are examined in conjunction with prevailing notions of pleasure and judgement with the purpose of identifying the visual and psychological contexts within which the aesthetics of a culture emerge. Through a wide-ranging examination of ideas found in early written sources, the book examines various key aspects of Greek visual culture, such as continuity and change, nudity, identity, lifelikeness, mimesis, personation and enactment, symmetria, dance, harmony, and the modal representation of emotions, with the aim of comprehending how and why choices were made in the conception and making of artifacts. Special attention is given to factors contributing to the formation of taste and the emergence and transmission over time of concepts of art and beauty and the means by which they were identified and judged. The approach facilitates encounters with the material in ways that give rise to new insights into how the ancient Greeks experienced their own visual culture and how Greek art may be understood by us today

    REVIEWS
    Ross Brendle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 10.55 (2019)


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Print Publishing in Sixteenth-Century Rome: Growth and Expansion, Rivalry and Murder

    London/Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2008
    (469 pages, 320 illustrations)

    
    

    BOOK AWARD 2009

    REVIEWS
    Madeleine Viljoen, Renaissance Quarterly 69 (2009): 1287-1288
    Larry Silver, The Art Book 17 (2010): 33-34
    Mark P. McDonald, The Library 11 (2010): 111-113
    Eckhard Leuschner, Kunstchronik 8 (2010): 367-370
    Peter W. Parshall, Burlington Magazine 152 (2010): 552-553
    Rose Marie San Juan, Oxford Art Journal 34 (2011): 292-294


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Copyright in the Renaissance: Prints and the Privilegio in Sixteenth-Century Venice and Rome

    Leiden: Brill, 2004
    (414 pages, 37 illustrations)

    REVIEWS
    Angela Nuovo, Bibliographical Society of America 99 (2005): 346-348
    Andrew Pettegree, Sixteenth Century Journal 37 (2006): 469-470
    Brian Richardson, European History Quarterly 38 (2008): 517-18

    
    

    books (digital)

    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    An Introduction to Art and Culture in Ancient Egypt

    Art in Ancient Egypt Volume 1

    Apple Books, April 2019 (535.3MB)
    187 pages, 873 images, maps, and diagrams

    In this first volume of Art in Ancient Egypt, chapters on Egypt and the Nile; Egypt and the Natural World; Hieroglyphics; Signs and Symbols; Egyptian Religion; Gods and Goddesses; Pharaohs and Queens; Men and Women; Life and Death; and Art and Architecture provide an introduction to art and culture in Ancient Egypt.

    This eBook is available for download


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    A Survey of Art in Ancient Egypt from Predynastic Times to the Graeco-Roman Period

    Art in Ancient Egypt Volume 2

    Apple Books, May 2019 (566.6MB)
    135 pages, 732 images, maps, diagrams, videos, and interactive features

    In this second volume of Art in Ancient Egypt, the history of the art and architecture of Ancient Egypt is surveyed from Predynastic times to the end of the Roman Period.

    This eBook is available for download


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Art’s History in Europe Part 1

    Apple Books, January 2014 (673MB)
    over 500 images, videos, maps, diagrams and interactive materials

    An introductory survey of art in Prehistoric Europe, Ancient Egypt, Near East, Aegean, and Greece.

    This eBook is available for download

    MORE INFORMATION


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    The Visual Experience of ART

    Apple Books, May 2012 (230MB)
    191 illustrations, 34 interactives

    This book investigates how you visually experience art. It examines how your eyes see and how your brain looks at the various components of different types of art. It explains how you gather impressions and make associations, how you perceive meaning, and how art affects your thoughts, stimulates your emotions, and enhances your life experiences

    This eBook is available for download

    MORE INFORMATION


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Venus of Willendorf

    Apple Books, April 2013 (42.7 MB)

    One of the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the early 20th century is a small Paleolithic stone sculpture known as the Venus of Willendorf. Who is she? we wonder. What does she represent? Is this a portrait of an actual Stone Age woman? Or might this be an image of a prehistoric Mother Goddess? These and other questions are examined in this essay

    This eBook is available for download

    MORE INFORMATION


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    853 Beautiful Victorian Paintings

    Apple Books, July 2014 (710 MB)

    The book presents 853 Victorian paintings by 163 painters, including 16 women, spanning the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). The paintings, selected for their intrinsic beauty as works of art, are grouped by artist.

    This eBook is available for download

    
    

    fiction (digital & printed)
    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Three Fountains

    A Young Adult Adventure Story

    Amazon, October 2024

    A young exiled royal princess named Izadare falls in love with Duncan when he visits her aunt’s palace selling amulets made of rare Isperagold. To escape an arranged marriage, Izadare runs away to be with Duncan, who lives part of the year underground collecting nuggets of Isperagold along the tunnels of the subterranean Ispera River. Duncan takes Izadare to Ballawais, his mother’s oasis village in the desert, where they are married. However, the young couple are quickly overtaken by a series of tragic events and are separated. Izadare, alone, gives birth to twins, a girl and a boy, but loses her young son when he is taken away from her by pirates. The son, Otawais, grows up working as a slave on a farm in Morgada, and later serving as a cabin boy on a pirate galley. He eventually manages to escape captivity and is taken in and cared for by tin miners. Meanwhile, Izadare and her daughter, Simbellisa, have moved to the mysterious floating city island of Yse, the birthplace of Izadare’s mother, Queen Oinda, where they learn to develop unusual supernatural gifts and magic powers. After several years have passed, Izadare and her two children are reunited and together they set off in search of Duncan who has embarked on a quest to find the mythical Garden of the Isperades where the Tree of Ispera grows on an island in a lake. The tree’s golden fruit grants wishes to those who taste it.

    Available on Kindle or in Paperback through Amazon


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    The Jerusalem Project

    Secretly guided by Watcher wisewomen, Angelo Marrelli becomes involved in a project to transform the city of Rome

    Story One in the Reset Series

    Amazon, October 2022

    In the 16th century in Italy, Angelo Marrelli learns the art of engraving while serving in the Gonzaga court in Mantua. After travelling to Venice, where he meets a renowned courtesan, he moves to Rome and then to Naples, where he becomes caught up in the Vatican’s clandestine scheme to transform the physical city of Rome into the mystical Heavenly Jerusalem. However, Angelo also learns that the project, which involves the occult use of a “magic” golden map and a strange optical device, has been secretly devised by Watcher wisewomen to open up a portal connecting Earth and the world of Haven.

    Available on Kindle or in Paperback through Amazon


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    The Woman From Eden

    A Wisewoman from Haven Transposes to Earth to Retrieve an Ancient Stone of Wisdom

    Story Two in the Reset Series

    Amazon, October 2022

    Roxanne King, a wisewoman from Earth’s sister-world of Haven, has come to Earth to retrieve the Lapisophia Tablet, an ancient source of wisdom for Earth’s Watcher wisewomen. Roxanne travels to Jerusalem and Rome with Alexander Fisher, a researcher at a Foundation in London, who learns he has a special “gift” for bringing into existence the portals through which Roxanne passes between Earth and Haven.

    Available on Kindle or in Paperback through Amazon


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe

    Ned Reisner's Chronicle

    Wisewomen reset Earth’s symbiotic life-system to save humanity from extinction

    Story Three in the Reset Series

    Amazon, June 2022

    The flaw disrupting Earth’s symbiotic life-system had now triggered an alien lifeform invasion. In an effort to save humanity from extinction, Ek'nana, a wisewomen from Earth’s sister-world of Haven, takes over the mind and body of Canadian news reporter Ned Reisner. As she prepares to Reset the Earth, Ek'nana educates Ned, introducing him to Earth’s Watcher wisewomen and sharing with him new and astonishing information about Life and the Universe.

    Available on Kindle or in Paperback through Amazon

    
    

    articles (printed)
    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    The Chapel of the Courtesan
    and the Quarrel of the Magdalens


    The Art Bulletin 84 (2002): 273-292
    Amazon.com, or access the article through JStor
    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    Vasari’s Knighthood
    (revised and updated version of 1991 article)

    Giorgio Vasari 1511–1574
    The Painter of the Szeged Annunciation

    Edited by Szabó Tamás and Zombori István
    (Szeged: Móra Ferenc Múzeum, 2011), 81-85
    (in English and Hungarian)
    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    Gregory XIII and
    the Accademia di S. Luca


    Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 54 (2009): 107-118
    Access this article through JStor

    
    
    Dürer's Prodigal Son. Source: Notes in the History of Art 17 (1998): 7-13.
    Access this article through JStor

    Two Avvisi, Caravaggio, and Giulio Mancini. Source: Notes in the History of Art 12 (1993): 22-29.
    Access this article through JStor

    Cesare Ripa and the Sala Clementina. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 55 (1992): 277-282.
    Access this article through JStor

    Giovanni Battista Mercati: notizie sui dipinti e sulle incisioni. Bollettino d'Arte 76 (1992): 53-70.

    Herrera's Papal Privilegio for the Escorial Prints. Print Quarterly 9 (1992): 177-180.
    Access this article through JStor

    Christopher Plantin's Papal Privileges: Documents in the Vatican Archives. De Gulden Passer 69 (1991): 133-143.

    Some Letters and Some Prints Dedicated to the Medici by Cherubino Alberti. Sixteenth Century Journal 22 (1991): 641-660.
    Access this article through JStor

    Vasari's Knighthood, Source: Notes in the History of Art 6 (1991): 9-13.
    Access this article through JStor

    Privilegio Papale per la pubblicazione degli statuti dell'Ordine di San Giovanni di Malta (Roma, 1588) / The Privilegio for the Publication of the Statutes of the Order of St. John in Malta (Rome, 1588). Rivista Internazionale del Sovrano Ordine di Malta 23 (1991): 28-38 (in Italian and English).

    Cherubino Alberti and the Ownership of Engraved Plates, Print Quarterly 6 (1989): 160-169.
    Access this article through JStor

    Raffaellino del Colle and Giulio Romano's Holy Family with Saints in S. Maria dell'Anima, Gazette des Beaux-Arts 114 (1989): 51-62.

    An Annunciation by Giovanni Battista Cungi. Burlington Magazine 131 (1989): 849-851.
    Access this article through JStor

    A Vasari Assistant: Giovanni Paolo del Colle. Source: Notes in the History of Art 6 (1987): 23-26.
    Access this article through JStor

    An Illusionistic Oculus by the Alberti Brothers in the Scala Santa. Gazette des Beaux-Arts 110 (1987): 61-72.

    Sixtus V and the Scala Santa. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 44 (1985): 168-179.
    Access this article through JStor

    A New Fresco by Cherubino Alberti in the Vatican. Source: Notes in the History of Art 4 (1984): 12-16.
    Access this article through JStor

    Giuseppe Porta's Frontispiece for Francesco Marcolini's Sorti. Arte Veneta 37 (1983): 170-174.

    The Vatican Apartment of Cinzio Aldobrandini: Notes & Documents. Archivum Historiae Pontificiae 19 (1981): 173-189.
    Access this article through JStor

    
    

    ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

      Agostino dei Musi
      Baviera
      Antonio Salamanca
      Properzia de' Rossi
      Bernardino Passeri
    The Dictionary of Art (London: Macmillan, 1996)
    Purchase the set through Amazon.com

    All five entries also published in Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art (London: Macmillan, 2000).
    Purchase a copy through Amazon.com

    
    

    essays (printed)

    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    Water: Cult & Culture
    in

    The Perfect Flow (2008)
    Grohe AG, Feldmühleplatz 15, Düsseldorf, Germany
    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    Bye bye, slides / Bye bye, carousels / Hello Internet / I think I'm a-gonna cry-y
    in

    Teaching Art History with New Technologies: Reflections and Case Studies
    Edited by Kelly Donahue-Wallace, Laetitia La Follette and Andrea Pappas (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008).
    Purchase a copy through Amazon.com
    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe
    Art, Pleasure, and Love
    in

    The Love: Of the Fifth Spiritual Paradigm
    Narrated by Laurel, Oracle Institute Press, 2010).
    Purchase a copy through Amazon.com

    
    

    essays (digital)

    
    

    Stonehenge

    Menkaure and His Queen

    Minoan Snake Goddess
    
    
    

    papers

    CONFERENCE PAPERS

    Perception and Visual Culture. Presented in the session "Using, Reusing, and Abusing the Ideals and Forms of the Ancient Past" at the Renaissance Society of America (RSA) conference in Cambridge, England, April 6-10, 2005

    Gregory XIII and the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. Presented in the session "Gregory XIII, I: Rome and the Vatican," at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference (SCSC), Toronto, Canada, October, 2004

    Best Sellers? Studying Prints in Sixteenth-Century Italy. Presented in the session "Continuity and Change: The State of Research on Sixteenth-Century Italian Art," at the conference of the College Art Association (CAA), Seattle, February, 2004

    Looking at Pictures: Art History and the Perception of Visual Images. Presented in the session "Art, Science and Visual Studies" at the conference "Making Connections," Association of Art Historians (AAH), Oxford, England, March, 2001

    Art History and Technology: A Brief History; New Directions. Presented in the session "Using Technology to Teach Art History" at the Annual Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Louisville, Kentucky, October, 2000 (See also the website)

    What's the Dilemma? Teaching Art History on the Web. Presented in the Visual Resources Association (VRA) session "Into Hot Water? The Digital Dilemma - Issues and Answers" at the Annual Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Miami Beach, Florida, October, 1998

    Mary Magdalen in Renaissance Art. Presented by invitation at the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies conference on "Mary Magdalen in History and Legend," University of California at Los Angeles, May, 1997

    Cum Privilegio: Copyright in Renaissance. Presented in the session "History, Art, and Copyright" at the conference of the College Art Association (CAA), New York, February, 1997

    Venice and Rome: The Print Connection in the Sixteenth Century. Presented in the session "Italian Art 1300-1700: Venice and Rome" at the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Washington, D.C., Fall, 1995. Abstract published in Southeastern College Art Conference Review XIII (1996): 83

    The Shifting Identity of Mary Magdalen in the Renaissance. Presented in the session "The Renaissance Woman II" at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference (SCSC), St. Louis, Missouri, Fall, 1993

    Prints and Copyright in 16th Century Italy. Presented at the Alumni Symposium: Art History for the 1990s: Marking Change in the Museum, the Academy, and the Marketplace, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Spring, 1993

    Raphael, Giulio Romano, and the Chapel of the Courtesan. Presented in the session "The Italian Renaissance Chapel: Patrons, Programs, and Problems" at the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Memphis, Tenn., Fall, 1991. Abstract published in Southeastern College Art Conference Review XII (1992): 118-119

    Vasari's Vita of Marcantonio Raimondi: Some Remarks on Interpretation. Presented at Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Winter Park, Florida, Fall, 1988. Abstract published in Southeastern College Art Conference Review XI (1989): 324-325

    
    SEMINAR PAPERS
    
    

    Print Shop Rivalry in Sixteenth-Century Rome. Presented at the Mid-Atlantic Renaissance/Reformation Seminar (MARRS) at Sweet Briar College, Virginia, March 4, 2006

    Papal Plans for the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Presented in the Robert H. Smith Seminar on the Accademia di San Luca at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., December 9-10, 2004

    
    

    international lecturing and travel

    2024

    TRAVEL: Spain, staying in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, November 1, 2024 - January 30, 2025

    TRAVEL: Italy, visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, August 1-14, 2024

    TRAVEL: Singapore to London, aboard the cruise ship Viking Sky (Viking Ocean Cruises) sailing from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Langkawi (Malaysia), Penang (Malaysia), Phuket (Thailand), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Cochin (India), Port Louis (Mauritius), Le Port (Réunion), Richards Bay (South Africa), Gqeberha (South Africa), Cape Town (South Africa), Wallis Bay (Namibia), Dakar (Senegal), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Island of Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain), Agadir (Morocco), Casablanca (Morocco), Tangier (Morocco), Lisbon (Portugal), Porto (Portugal), A Coruña (Spain), Cherbourg (France), Honfleur (France), Dover (England), London (England), March 13 - May 6, 2024

    TRAVEL: England, visiting Bath, January 11-14, 2024

    LECTURING: New York to Southampton. A series of presentations aboard the ocean liner Queen Mary 2 (Cunard) sailing from New York (USA) to Southampton (England), January 3-11, 2024

    2023

    LECTURING: Barcelona to Miami. A series of presentations aboard the cruise ship Seven Seas Grandeur (Regent Seven Seas Cruises) sailing from Barcelona (Spain) to Cádiz (Spain); Funchal, Madeira Island, Madeira (Portugal); Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda (UK); and Miami (USA), November 25-December 9, 2023

    TRAVEL: Netherlands, visiting Amsterdam, Groningen, November 2-9, 2023

    LECTURING: Empires of the Mediterranean. A series of presentations aboard the cruise ship Viking Saturn (Viking Ocean Cruises) sailing from Chioggia (Italy) to Koper (Slovenia); Zadar (Croatia); Dubrovnik (Croatia); Kotor (Montenegro); Corfu (Greece); Katakolon (Greece); Santorini (Greece); and Athens (Greece), October 9-18, 2023

    LECTURING: Mediterranean Odyssey. A series of presentations aboard the cruise ship Viking Saturn (Viking Ocean Cruises) sailing from Barcelona (Spain) to Marseille (France); Monte Carlo (Monaco); Livorno (Italy); Civitavecchia (Italy); Naples (Italy); Corfu (Greece); Dubrovnik (Croatia); Split (Croatia); and Chioggia (Italy), September 27-October 9, 2023

    TRAVEL: Japan, visiting Tokyo, Hakone, Takayama, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka, August 26-September 9, 2023

    LECTURING: History and Culture of Islands in the North Atlantic, and Ports in Spain, Monaco, and Italy. A series of presentations aboard the cruise ship Riviera (Oceania Cruises) sailing from Miami (USA) to Nassau, New Providence Island, The Bahamas; Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda (UK); Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, The Azores (Portugal); Funchal, Madeira Island, Madeira (Portugal); Málaga (Spain); Monte Carlo (Monaco); Livorno (Italy); and Civitavecchia (Italy), March 22-April 7, 2023

    TRAVEL: Michigan (USA), visiting Lansing, Detroit, January 2-8, 2023

    2022

    LECTURING: History, Culture, and Architecture in Denmark, Scotland, Faroe Islands, and Iceland. A series of lectures presented aboard the private luxury residential yacht The World sailing from Copenhagen (Denmark) to Aarhus (Denmark), Edinburgh (Scotland, UK), Invergordon (Scotland, UK), Tórshavn (Faroe Islands, Denmark), and Akureyri (Iceland), July 20-August 3, 2022

    LECTURING: History and Culture along Europe's Atlantic Coast. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Aegean Odyssey (Road Scholar) sailing from Barcelona (Spain) and visiting Tangier (Morocco), Porto (Portugal), Bilbao (Spain), Le Verdon-sur-Mer (France), Saint-Malo (France), Cherbourg (France), and London (England), June 23-July 8, 2022

    LECTURING: History and Culture in the South of France. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Aegean Odyssey (Road Scholar) sailing from Genoa (Italy) and visiting Ajaccio (Island of Corsica, France), Monte Carlo (Monaco), Nice (France), Toulon (France), Marseilles (France), Sète (France), and Barcelona (Spain), June 13-24, 2022

    LECTURING: The Knights Hospitaller and Rhodes, Mykonos Museums, Venetians and Ottomans at Monemvasia. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Aegean Odyssey (Road Scholar) sailing from Piraeus (Greece) and visiting Heraklion (Island of Crete, Greece), Rhodes (Island of Rhodes, Greece), Marmaris (Turkey), the Island of Mykonos (Greece), and Monemvasia (Peloponnese, Greece), Piraeus (Greece), April 15-25, 2022

    LECTURING: Polynesian Art, History, and Culture. A series of lectures presented aboard the private luxury residential yacht The World sailing from Honolulu, Hawaii (USA) to Papeete, Tahiti (French Polynesia), January 18-30, 2022

    2021

    LECTURING: Pirates and Privateers, Atlantis, the Atlantic Ocean, Transatlantic crossings, and the islands of St Barts and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. A series of presentations aboard the cruise ship Riviera (Oceania Cruises) sailing from Civitavecchia (Italy) and visiting Villefranche (France), Barcelona (Spain), Cartagena (Spain), Gustavia (Island of St. Barts [Saint Barthélemy], overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean), and San Juan (Island of Puerto Rico, unincorporated U.S. territory), Miami (USA), November 17-December 3, 2021

    2019

    LECTURING: History and Culture in Italy, Corsica, Monaco, Southern France, Mallorca, and Spain. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Sirena (Oceania Cruises) sailing from Civitavecchia (Italy) and visiting Livorno (Italy), Ajaccio (Island of Corsica, France), La Spezia (Italy), Genoa (Italy), Monte Carlo (Monaco), Marseilles (France), Sète (France), Palma de Mallorca (Island of Mallorca, Spain), Valencia (Spain), and Barcelona (Spain), October 1-11, 2019

    LECTURING: History and Culture in Greece, Sicily, and Malta. A series of lectures presented aboard the private luxury residential yacht The World sailing from Piraeus (Greece), and stopping at Nafplio (Greece), Siracusa (Island of Sicily, Italy), and Valletta (Malta), April 2-11, 2019

    2018

    LECTURING: History and Culture in Ireland, England, and France. A series of lectures presented aboard the private luxury residential yacht The World sailing from Dublin (Ireland) and stopping at Cobh (Ireland), St. Mary‘s Island (Isles of Scilly, England), Tresco Island (Isles of Scilly, England), Falmouth (England), Torquay (England), Rouen (France), September 20-30, 2018

    TRAVEL: Netherlands, visiting Amsterdam, Groningen, May 23-25, 2018

    LECTURING: History and Culture in Italy and Corsica. A series of lectures presented aboard the private luxury residential yacht The World sailing from Genoa (Italy) and stopping at Portofino (Italy), Livorno (Italy), Piombino (Italy), Portoferraio (Island of Elba, Italy), Porto Ercole (Italy), Bastia (Island of Corsica, France), Porto-Vecchio (Island of Corsica, France), Bonifacio (Island of Corsica, France), Propriano (Island of Corsica, France), Ajaccio (Island of Corsica, France), May 5-22, 2018

    2017

    TRAVEL: Spain, visiting Seville, Madrid, November 18-27, 2017

    2016

    TRAVEL: France, Italy, visiting Paris, Turin, June 21-July 7, 2016

    2015

    Printmaking in Italy and the "Flemish" Contribution. Program teacher in the summer school at the Belgian Academy in Rome, July 6-10, 2015

    2013

    Art Wars Episode IV: A New Approach. Alumnae Reunion Art History Lecture at Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia, June 1, 2013

    2012

    Beyond Google: From Research Libraries to Secret Archives. The Fall Lecture 2012 of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program at Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia, October 24, 2012

    Looking at Pictures: Art History and the Visual Experience. Lecture presented in the Distinguished Professor Series at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, Florida, February 8, 2012

    TRAVEL: England, visiting Oxford, London, December 28, 2011 - January 11, 2012

    2011

    LECTURING: Greek and Italian Art & Archaeology. Five lectures presented as the Smithsonian Speaker aboard the cruise ship Celebrity Equinox (Celebrity Cruises) departing from Rome and visiting Sicily, Athens, Ephesus, Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, Naples, and Rome, July 8-18, 2011

    LECTURING: The Life and Art of Paul Gauguin. A series of five lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Paul Gauguin (Paul Gauguin Cruises) cruising French Polynesia, departing from Papeete, Tahiti, and visiting Huahine, Aitutaki (Cook Islands), Rarotonga (Cook Islands), Bora Bora, Taha'a (Motu Mahana), and Moorea, May 14-25, 2011

    LECTURING: The Life and Art of Paul Gauguin and Captain James Cook in Polynesia. A series of five lectures plus one presented aboard the cruise ship Paul Gauguin (Paul Gauguin Cruises) cruising French Polynesia, departing from Papeete, Tahiti, and visiting Huahine, Rarotonga (Cook Islands), Aitutaki (Cook Islands), Bora Bora, Taha'a (Motu Mahana), and Moorea, January 29-February 9, 2011

    2010

    TRAVEL: Italy, visiting Rome, Vatican, October 25-December 20, 2010

    TRAVEL: California (USA), visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco, September 19-23, 2010

    LECTURING: The Life and Art of Paul Gauguin. A series of five lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Paul Gauguin (Paul Gauguin Cruises) cruising French Polynesia, departing from Papeete, Tahiti, and visiting Fakarava (Tuamoto Archipelago), Fatu Hiva (Marquesas Islands), Hiva Oa (Marquesas Islands), Ua Huka (Marquesas Islands), Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands), Huahine, Bora Bora, Taha'a (Motu Mahana), and Moorea, September 4-18, 2010

    LECTURING: Ancient Egypt: Saqqara and Giza and The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Two lectures presented on the Sweet Briar Alumnae Tour, ‘Egypt and the Eternal Nile’. March 12-28, 2010

    2009

    LECTURING: Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Art and Culture. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Celebrity Equinox (Celebrity Cruises) inaugural cruise departing from Southampton (England), and visiting Le Havre (France), Cherbourg (France), Vigo (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Gibraltar (United Kingdom), Cartagena (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), and Civitavecchia (Italy), August 8-18, 2009

    LECTURING: The Life and Art of Paul Gauguin. A series of five lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Paul Gauguin (Regent Seven Seas Cruises) cruising French Polynesia, departing from Papeete, Tahiti, and visiting Rangiroa (Tuamoto Archipelago), Atuona (Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands), Taiohae (Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands), Bora Bora, Taha'a (Motu Mahana), and Moorea, July 4-15, 2009

    LECTURING: Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Italian Art and Culture. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Legend of the Seas (Royal Caribbean International) departing from Civitavecchia (Italy), and visiting Naples (Italy), Piraeus (Greece), Mykonos (Greece), Rhodes (Greece), Kusadasi (Turkey), Alexandria (Egypt), and Corfu (Greece), June 1-15, 2009

    2008

    LECTURING: Art and culture in Scandinavia and Russia. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Jewel of the Seas (Royal Caribbean International) sailing from Harwich (England) and visiting Tallinn (Estonia); St Petersburg (Russia); Helsinki (Finland); Stockholm (Sweden); Copenhagen (Denmark); and Oslo (Norway), August 3-15, 2008

    2007

    LECTURING: Art and culture in the Western Mediterranean. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Sea Princess (Princess Cruises) sailing from Southampton, England, and visiting Cadiz (Spain); Barcelona (Spain); Monte Carlo (Monaco); Livorno (Italy); Civitavecchia (Italy); Alghero (Island of Sardinia, Italy); Palma de Mallorca (Island of Mallorca, Spain); and Gibraltar, August 4-18, 2007

    TRAVEL: England, visiting London, June 29-August 4, 2007

    TRAVEL: Italy, visiting Rome, June 24-28, 2007

    LECTURING: Greek art and culture. A series of lectures presented aboard the cruise ship Legend of the Seas (Royal Caribbean International) sailing from Civitavecchia (Italy) and visiting Mykonos (Greece); Kusadasi (Turkey); Rhodes (Greece); Limassol (Cyprus); Alexandria (Egypt); Piraeus (Greece); and Naples (Italy), June 12-24, 2007

    2006

    Jesus and Mary, Leonardo and Dan Brown: A New Look at The Da Vinci Code. Public lecture presented by invitation at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 31, 2006

    2005

    TRAVEL: Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts (USA), visiting Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Cambridge, June 14-29, 2005

    2004

    TRAVEL: England, Italy, visiting London, Florence, Rome, Summer, 2004

    2000

    Dr. Digital: Teaching Art History in a Wired World. Sweet Briar College Friends of Art lecture given at The National Arts Club, New York City, November, 2000

    1996

    Conversations with a Cunning Serpent: Eve, Art, and the Image of Woman. Sweet Briar College Friends of Art lecture given at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., October, 1996

    
    

    podcasts
    
    
    ART HISTORY in just a minute

    Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper

    Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

    Albrecht Dürer’s Prodigal Son
    
    

    videos


    In the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak in Egypt

    Hot-air balloon ride over Thebes in Egypt

    Monet's water-lily pond at Giverny
    
    

    Dancers on Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands

    Paul Gauguin’s House on Hiva Oa
    
    

    television

    2009

    Featured as an expert on Leonardo da Vinci in episode 2, Da Vinci’s Armageddon, in the series Nostrodamus Effect aired on the History Channel, beginning September 16, 2009

    
    

    theatre (acting)
    1998
    “Friar Francis” in William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (Sweet Briar College Theatre Production)

    1996
    “Avram” in Fiddler on the Roof (Sweet Briar College Theatre Production)

    1994
    “Koryphaios of Men” in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (Sweet Briar College Theatre Production)

    1992
    “Petulant” in William Congreve’s The Way of the World (Sweet Briar College Theatre Production)

    1990
    “Theseus” in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sweet Briar College Theatre Production)

    
    

    various

    LECTURES & WORKSHOPS ON TECHNOLOGY

    Teaching on the Web. Invited lecture in the session "Getting Started with Technology in the Classroom" (VFIC and DuPont Faculty Technology Initiative), Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia, June, 2000

    Teaching Using the Web. Presentation in a Workshop for Faculty in the Humanities (VFIC and DuPont Faculty Technology Initiative), Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, June 1999

    Web / Images / Teaching / Research. Invited lecture and workshop at the First Annual Meeting of the Art History Webmasters Association, University of Québec at Montréal, Canada, March, 1998

    COLLOQUIUM

    The Portals of Art History. Colloquium attended by invitation sponsored by the Mellon Foundation at The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, May 11-12, 2007

    EDITORIAL BOARDS

    Primary Sources On Copyright (1450-1900)
    Arts (2011–2018)

    OTHER PUBLICATIONS


    Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe and Carol Lea Clark ART: Hits on the Web (Thomson Learning, 2002, earlier editions published 2001, 2000)
    Purchase a copy through Amazon.com

    Sacredness in TheoSophia 69 (June 2008): 16-17. Official magazine of the Theosophical Society in New Zealand

    Seeing Through Art: A Course on Images of Women and Men in Western Art in Transformations 6 (1995): 16-38
    Access this article through JStor

    
    

    personal

    Early Life
    Born: November 17, 1949
    Place of Birth: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
    Residences:
    Warborough Farm, Letcombe Regis, Nr. Wantage, Berkshire, England (1949-1952)
    Hampstead Norreys, Nr. Newbury, Berkshire, England (1952-1956)
    Compton, Nr. Newbury, Berkshire, England (1956-1968)

    Schools:
    Norreys Ash School, Newbury, Berkshire, England
    St. Bartholomew‘s School, Andover Road, Newbury, Berkshire, England (1961-1963)
    Reading School (boarder: East Wing), Erleigh Road, Reading, Berkshire, England (1963-1968)