Romancing the Stone
Arts Documentary hosted by Alastair Sooke, published by BBC in 2011 - English narration.
Information
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Reveals how sculpture communicates our most cherished beliefs and values - the British soul captured in three dimensions.
2) Mavericks of Empire
By the middle of the 18th century, Britain was in possession of a vast empire. It required a new way of seeing ourselves and so we turned to the statues of ancient Greece and Rome to project the secular power and glory of the British Empire.
The message was clear: Britain was the new Rome, our generals and politicians on a par with the heroes of the ancient world. The flood of funds, both public and private, into sculptural projects unleashed a new golden age, yet it was also a remarkably unorthodox one. The greatest sculptors of the 18th and 19th centuries were those mavericks who bucked prevailing trends - geniuses like John Flaxman, Francis Chantrey and Alfred Gilbert.
Alastair Sooke tells the story of these mavericks and reveals the extraordinary technical breakthroughs behind their key works: carving in marble with a pointer machine and the primal power of the lost-wax technique.
Technical Specs
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* Video Codec: x265 CABAC Main L4
* Video Bitrate: CRF 21.5 (~2577Kbps)
* Video Resolution: 1920x1080
* Frame Rate: 25 FPS
* Audio Codec: AAC-LC
* Audio Bitrate: Q=0.45 VBR 48KHz (~128Kbps)
* Audio Channels: 2
* Run-Time: 59 mins
* Number Of Parts: 3
* Part Size: 1.11 GB (average)
* Source: HDTV
* Subtitles: Merged