Best movies & TV Shows like How Art Made The World

Sam Roddick explores the enduring appeal of Botticelli's masterpiece The Birth of Venus, one of the most celebrated paintings in western art. A joyous celebration of female sexuality, its journey to worldwide fame was far from straightforward and it lay in obscurity for centuries. Artist and entrepreneur Sam explains why Botticelli's nude was so revolutionary, and explores its impact on contemporary culture with artists such as Terry Gilliam, who memorably reinvented Venus for his Monty Python's Flying Circus animations.

Professor Robert Winston meets Lucy, the first upright ape, and follows her ancestors on the three-million-year journey to civilisation.

Journey through the long-vanished corners of prehistoric North America, beginning when man first entered the vast, unspoiled continent some 14,000 years ago, in this appealing BBC documentary. Witness ancient beasts, mammoths, mastodons, giant bears, and sabre-toothed cats, and see the legacies each has passed to their modern successors. Computer animation and digital effects bring to life mammoths, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths, short-faced bears, glyptodonts, and a plethora of smaller animals in a lush Ice Age mosaic. Discoveries from sites across America are the basis for the reconstructions. The BBC team behind "Blue Planet" and "Walking with Dinosaurs" now takes you back to an 'early America' beyond imagination. Travel back 14,000 years as humans were first entering the continent, sharing it with ancient beasts.

A Roman general leads the epic 1st-century siege of Masada, the mountain fortress where more than 900 Jews made a heroic stand against 5,000 Roman soldiers.

Chasing Mummies: The Amazing Adventures of Zahi Hawass is a reality television series which is airing on The History Channel in the United States. Produced by Boutique TV, this series depicts the adventures of archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass and his discoveries in Egypt as he is followed by young archeological fellows and a camera crew. The series began on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 and aired Wednesdays at 10pm on the History Channel. The shows illustrates the complexities in the almost never-ending quest to preserve and discover artifacts from ancient Egypt.

Neil Oliver tells the epic story of how Britain and its people came to be over thousands of years of ancient history—the beginnings of our world forged in ice, stone, and bronze

Journalist Fiona Bruce teams up with art expert Philip Mould to investigate the provenance or attribution of notable artworks.

Jumping back and forth between modern and medieval France, the lives of two women separated by centuries, are united in their search for an ancient artifact.

A worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.

Africa, the world's wildest continent. David Attenborough takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through one of the most diverse places in the world. We visit deserts, savannas, and jungles and meet up with some of Africa's amazing wildlife.

Museum Secrets is a TV series on History Television in Canada and a website with videos and games

Sir Kenneth Clarke guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.

The renowned definitive eight part series on the rise and fall of the modern art movement presented by Australian art critic Robert Hughes.

John Berger's Ways of Seeing changed the way people think about painting and art criticism. This watershed work shows, through word and image, how what we see is always influenced by a whole host of assumptions concerning the nature of beauty, truth, civilization, form, taste, class and gender. Exploring the layers of meaning within oil paintings, photographs and graphic art, Berger argues that when we see, we are not just looking - we are reading the language of images.

Geologist Dr Iain Stewart presents a series showing how the rocks beneath our feet have shaped the human history of the Mediterranean.

Bettany Hughes sets out on an epic journey across continents and back in time to trace the hidden and often controversial history of women in religion

A journey into our evolutionary past, piecing together the bodies of our prehistoric family.

Christianity slowly emerged from being a persecuted minority to the state religion of the Roman Empire. This episode is a history of the ways believers grappled with a way to depict Jesus. Simple symbolic meaning developed into splendid art and churches.

Deep in the Gulf region is one of the world's last great wildernesses - a mysterious and magical landscape hidden to the world for decades. Observe the dramatic and varied geology and extraordinary wildlife in the world premiere of 'WILD ARABIA'. With unparalleled access, Animal Planet takes viewers to the crossroads of three continents to a clandestine kingdom of rich culture and breathtaking beauty. Once the trade hub of the ancient world, Arabia has transitioned into a secluded splendor where the modern world brushes up against a vast and ageless sweeping terrain. Feast your eyes on the scenic and sculptural sand dunes of Saudi Arabia and Oman, which are populated by camel trains and elegant white gazelles. Discover the scores of undersea volcanoes in the deep trenches off the coast of Yemen, and uncover the secrets of the Tigris-Euphrates River Delta.

First broadcast on October 2, 1989, these 18 original 30-minute episodes provide a panorama of 2000 years of architecture, painting and sculpture, and studies the art masterpieces as reflections of the Western culture that produced them.

Jamie Theakston uncovers the startling truth behind great myths, historical legends, conspiracy theories, ancient treasures, lost civilisations and war time secrets.

Alastair Sooke tells the story of Ancient Egyptian art through 30 extraordinary masterpieces.

This three-part special tells the story of the Egyptian empire from its beginning in 1560 B.C. to its collapse in 1080 B.C. Interviews with scholars and dramatic re-creations bring the story to life.

Alastair Sooke explores the riches and unique legacy of Greek art.

The twelve episodes of this BBC series cover a millennium of English monarchy and portray lives of twelve important English monarchs and how each of them impacted the history: William the Conqueror, Henry II, Edward I, Henry V , Richard III, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Charles I, Charles II, George III, Victoria, and to the present Queen Elizabeth II. Each 23-minute episode is filmed on location, with historian Nigel Spivey providing the narration describing bloodshed, lust and political intrigue. Actors provide mute dramatization.

Three-part documentary series in which anthropologist professor Alice Roberts and archaeologist Neil Oliver go in search of the Celts - one of the world's most mysterious ancient civilisations.

It spans over 5,000 years of history that have shaped the world. It is full of spectacular sites and epic stories and an evolving society of inventors, heroes, heroines, villains, artisans and pioneers. Professor Joann Fletcher reveals the highs and lows of the most beguiling civilisation in humanity’s rich history in this four-part series made for BBC2.

America from the Ground Up was filmed on location at archaeological and historical sites throughout the U.S. and Canada. Join us in the search for clues to America's hidden history: from exploring the ruins of America's lost civilizations, to the settlement of the North American continent in the 19th Century.

Take a journey to Antarctica to experience the world’s most extreme wilderness, to see the massive undertaking it is to support human life there, and to chronicle the world-changing science being done. Embed with missions on the ice, underneath it, and atop some of its peaks, as scientists and survival experts join forces to fight brutal conditions to help change the world.

Neil Oliver, Chris Packham, Andy Torbet and Dr Shini Somara join hundreds of archaeologists from around the world who have gathered in Orkney to investigate at one of Europe's biggest digs.

Step inside the minds of the most innovative designers in a variety of disciplines and learn how design impacts every aspect of life.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. takes a look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century. A breathtaking and personal journey through two hundred thousand years of history, from the origins, on the African continent, of art, writing and civilization itself, through the millennia in which Africa and Africans shaped not only their own rich civilizations, but also the wider world.

Bettany Hughes relives eight pivotal days that defined the Roman Empire and made it the world's first superpower.

Explores the hidden secrets of three of the most fascinating cities of the ancient world: Cairo, Athens and Istanbul. 3D scans allow us to view the architectural jewels of these cities as they've never been seen before.

Millions of years ago, incredible forces ripped apart the Earth’s crust creating seven extraordinary continents. This documentary series reveals how each distinct continent has shaped the unique animal life found there.

Our Planet still hides many mysteries. Why does the world’s largest gathering of whale sharks happen in just one special place off the coast of Mexico? What has it got to do with a meteorite hurtling through space? Why are komodo dragons only found where they are? How did one of the planet’s most exquisite rainforests become forgotten? From the strangest animals of Sulawesi, to the spooky creatures of the Mayan underworld; from the haunt of Pumas and the Mars - like high Andes, to a lost world in the African clouds and a war of Baboons: Mysterious Planet embarks on a series of epic journeys into the wild, across continents, through millennia, to uncover the answers to the mysteries that shape life.

Grayson Perry, one of Britain's leading artists, brings the nation together through art, making new works and hosting masterclasses set to unleash our collective creativity during lockdown.

A look at 400 years of human trafficking from Africa to the New World with each episode following three separate story lines: the quest for a sunken slave ship, a personal journey by Samuel L. Jackson and a historical investigation led by investigative journalists Simcha Jacobovici and Afua Hirsch.

An eye-opening thrill ride that captures what it was like on both sides of the camera when the most recognizable images in history were taken featuring irreverent interviews with some of the most famous music photographers, musicians, gallerists, music journalists and social commentators.

The largest art museum in the Americas prepares to celebrate its 150th birthday with a treasure trove of landmark exhibitions. When COVID-19 strikes, the world shuts down and, for the first time in its history, the Met closes its doors. Then comes another crisis: in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, there are urgent demands for social justice.

Film lovers examine the cinematic moments that thrilled, perplexed, challenged and forever changed them in this collection of visual essays.

Wildest Europe reveals the incredible beauty and diversity of wildlife in Europe’s major natural habitats. The result is a surprising and wonderful journey of life in many dramatic and varied landscapes. No other continent has such a variety of landscapes and wildlife crammed into so little space. Sculpted by millions of years of rainfall carving out caves, rivers, islands and coastline of this diverse and epic landmass we explore the major waterways that provide home to a myriad of life forms, as well as the forests and woodlands and the grasslands, marshlands and plains. Europe’s habitats also span from sea level to mountain top, and once again wildlife has adapted to thrive in both places. Wildest Europe is a landmark series that explores this great continent of extremes…

Despite decades of research, many mysteries remain about the ancient Maya. Now, archaeologists are unearthing new clues that transform long held ideas about how these people came to dominate vast areas of Mexico and Central America. Through immense lost monuments, ancient inscriptions and new forensic evidence, this series tracks the Maya from their earliest origins all the way to the present day, unlocking the dark secrets of the rise and fall of the Maya.

A look into Frida Kahlo's world, revealing an artist driven by politics, power, sex and identity, with her epic love affair with Diego Rivera at the heart of it all.

Joanna Lumley sets off on one of her most epic voyages yet, a journey through the world’s greatest spice continents to discover the rich tapestry of flavours and cultures which have shaped our world. Touring Indonesia, Zanzibar, India and Madagascar, Joanna explores the centuries-old spice trade in this brand new four-part series of discovery.

An exciting series that explores history through the unique angle of criminal psychology and forensic anthropology, to re-tell the stories of infamous and little-known murders and possibly solve some of the mysteries surrounding them.

1984 Channel 4 documentary series surveying the history of New Testament scholarship, giving an overview of the contemporary New Testament scholarship, and finally a tracing of the history of the development of Christianity.

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.