Private Life of a Masterpiece: 17th Century Masters DVD

The award-winning series The Private Life of a Masterpiece reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they were created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.

The Private Life of a Masterpiece: 17th Century Masters discusses the following paintings:

• Rembrandt van Rijn - The Night Watch: This documentary tells the biography of one of the world’s greatest group portraits, from its conception in 1642 to its position today as a national symbol. Intriguingly, the painting is not actually the picture Rembrandt intended people to see...
• Johannes Vermeer - The Art of Painting: Just how Vermeer achieved perfect perspective has been the subject of intense speculation and experiments for years. This film reveals the simple secret and explains how the painting was bought by Adolf Hitler.
• Diego Velazquez - The Rokeby Venus: This film looks at the history, contemporary reactions and legacies of Velazquez's seminal painting – one of the most celebrated nudes in Western art but, surprisingly, relatively unknown until the beginning of the 20th Century.