Short Courses 2023

Online and on campus

A touching portrait of the family of the artist Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) by his close friend and collaborator Peter Paul Rubens i Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) , The Family of Jan Brueghel the Elder , Around 1613–15, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

The Courtauld shares its scholarly expertise with everyone interested in art and art history through the Short Courses. Our courses present up-to-date art-historical thinking, often including our lecturers’ current research, and are led by experts in their field who are chosen for their academic excellence, enthusiasm, and the ability to communicate with diverse audiences.

Covering a global range of historical periods and art-historical themes, the Short Courses programme has much to offer to both newcomers to the subject and to participants with existing knowledge and interests.

Most of our on campus courses combine teaching in the classroom with visits to galleries and museums across London. If you are stretched for time or too far away from The Courtauld, you can also study with us online! You will receive expert lectures and reading material between 2-4 weeks before the start of an online programme so that you can immerse yourself in the content at your own time, in preparation for the lively online seminars during the course delivery week.

You can find our courses and their full descriptions on this website or in our flip-the-page brochure. We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions, but if you cannot find an answer to your query please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Download our Short Courses calendar, listing all our courses and tours per month, below

Short Courses Calendar

Coming Next

‘The Second Rome’: Byzantine Constantinople

Dr Jessica Varsallona
Zoom seminars on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November 2023
£145

Booking for this study tour online has now closed.

Our lecturer leads us through the vibrant streets of modern-day Istanbul in search of the glories of Byzantine Constantinople. From 330 to 1453 the city was the capital of the mighty Byzantine Empire and we shall explore its artistic developments from the Great Palace to the Hagia Sophia, and to the northwestern quarters along the shore of the Golden Horn with its astonishing dynastic monasteries and palaces founded in the middle and late Byzantine periods.

Find out more
A bird's eye map of a medieval city surrounded by the Bosphorous. i Cristoforo Buondelmonti, ‘Map of Constantinople’, in Liber Insularum Archipelago, 1422, fol. 37r. BnF, Paris. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Antiquity, Taste, and the Self: Revisiting the Discoveries of the Grand Tour

Spring term
Tuesday 9 January – Tuesday 12 March, 19:00
On campus
OR
Wednesday 17 January – Wednesday 20 March, 20:00 [London time]
Online

This lecture series explores the cultural phenomenon of the Grand Tour, one of the most significant rites of passage in early modern history. Our focus will be on Italy, the culmination of that extensive Continental journey, on the Grand Tour’s heyday in the long eighteenth century, and on its most numerous cohort, the British.

Find out more
i Carlo Labruzzi, Temple of Minerva, late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld.

Our programmes


A road winds along a field with peach trees. A small village can be seen in the background.

Spring Courses

Online and on campus options. Our Spring Courses go considerably beyond introductory surveys. Organised thematically, they provide a solid basis for further study in Western art from classical antiquity to the twentieth century. ...

Summer School

Online and on campus. Summer School 2023 features 30 intensive five-day courses on a global range of topics from late classical to contemporary art. ...

A group of houses can be seen behind the trees in a colourful forest.

Autumn Courses

Online and on campus options. Our Autumn Courses go considerably beyond introductory surveys. Organised thematically, they provide a solid basis for further studies of areas of Western art from classical antiquity to the twentieth century. ...

Three figures looking at a drawing

Showcasing Art History

Online and on campus. As the programme name implies, the series aims to share the latest art-historical thinking, and The Courtauld’s excellence in teaching and research, with the wider public....

Giovanni Antonio Canaletto (1697 - 1768), View from Somerset Gardens looking towards London Bridge, 1746 - 1755 (circa)

Saturday Study

Saturday Study delivers short, intensive and, we hope, enjoyable events that help to give further context to our temporary exhibitions, or use selected works from our permanent collections as starting points for the investigation of significant art-h...

A man sits at a table and inspects a statue

Open Event

Invitation to our Open Morning. New to art history? Unsure if The Courtauld is for you? Come and meet us over coffee, conversation and a range of short talks!...

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