How Art Made the World

Why does our world look like it does? That great modern mystery is spectacularly unraveled in this international landmark series, an epic quest across five continents and 100,000 years—via some of the greatest treasures of the ancient world—to the heart of human creativity.

This is your invitation to see the world from an utterly new perspective. How Art Made the World reveals how the first big artistic discoveries were made and how they have cascaded down the centuries to define the look of the present day. Encompassing everything from cave paintings to ceramics and pyramids to palaces, the series probes the global trend for unrealistic depictions of the human body; the secret powers of the feature film; how politicians manage to manipulate people so easily; visions of death and the afterlife; and, crucially, why we use imagery at all.

Beautiful, surprising, and compelling, this awe-inspiring adventure is not only for art lovers but for anyone who has ever wondered about our place in the world.

Programme One - More Human Than Human... - One image dominates our contemporary world above all others: the human body. How Art Made the World travels from the modern world of advertising to the temples of classical Greece and the tombs of ancient Egypt to solve the mystery of why humans surround themselves with images of the body that are so unrealistic.

Programme Two - The Day Pictures Were Born - The discovery of prehistoric cave paintings in the last century led to the shocking realisation that humans have been creating art for over 30,000 years. Episode two reveals how the very first pictures ever made were created, and how images may have triggered the greatest change in human history.

Programme Three - The Art of Persuasion - The visual devices used by Tony Blair and George Bush to get themselves elected and maintain power, come not from modern times, but a world that is thousands of years old. How Art Made the World ventures back to the creation of Stonehenge and the reign of Alexander the Great to reveal how imagery became an indispensable weapon in every leader’s political armoury.

Programme Four - Once Upon a Time - Each year over seven billion people across the world are drawn to see the latest feature films in the cinema. This episode reveals how the most powerful storytelling medium ever created exploits visual techniques invented by artists in the ancient world.

Programme Five - To Death and Back - Today in the 21st Century people see fewer real dead bodies than at any time in history. Yet in the modern world we seem almost obsessed with images of death. In an investigation encompassing ancient Jericho, Aztec America, and classical Italy, How Art Made the World discovers what it is that has compelled human beings to surround themselves with images of death for thousands of years.

Embark on a thrilling journey through time and five continents to the heart of creativity. Fusing social history, politics, science, nature, archaeology and religion, this international landmark series unravels a universal mystery - why the world around us looks like it does. Modern-day mysteries are answered by journeying back to the beginning of civilisation via some of the most amazing man-made creations in the world. A strong narrative thread drives through each film as exciting scientific demonstrations reveal how our minds, and those of our ancient ancestors, relate to art. Beautiful, surprising, compelling and above all, relevant, with a visual ambition worthy of its epic subject-matter, this awe-inspiring adventure will appeal not only to art lovers, but to anyone who has ever wondered about humanity's place in the world.

"The series is stimulating and filled with insights." -The Times
"...his story of the discovery by a man on the last day of his diving holiday of two superb Ancient Greek bronze statues of warriors, and Spivey’s critique of the find, was absolutely thrilling." -Daily Mail
"This is fascinating stuff, made even more so by its affable, enthusiastic presenter ... it could easily have been subtitled ‘Everything You Hadn’t Realised You Wanted To Know About The Relationship Between People and the Visual Arts’." -Financial Times
"...certainly there is much of interest in this grand narrative ... VS Ramachandran’s studies are enlightening..." -Daily Telegraph
"Nigel Spivey has taken on an ambitious task in this major new series – no less than to understand humankind via the artistic impulse." -Sunday Telegraph
"In the hallowed BBC tradition of The Ascent of Man and Civilisation ... a worthy addition to the television canon." -Mail On Sunday
"Our guide is art historian Dr Nigel Spivey, whose swarthy good looks lend a touch of the Indiana Joneses to his globe-trotting cultural adventure." -Mail On Sunday

The oldest pictures ever discovered are in Chauvet Cave, in France's Ardeche region. The stunning paintings of animals - including lions, mammoths and bison - are up to 32,000 years old.