William Hickling Prescott House is an historic house museum located at 55 Beacon Street on Beacon Hill. The house, built in 1808 and designed by Asher Benjamin, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 for its association with William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859), one of the nation's first historians. The house in now a museum operated by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, which purchased it for its headquarters in 1944.
Requirements for Members Attending In-Person Classes & Events
Beacon Hill Seminars will continue to follow any City of Boston, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and/or federal statutes, regulations or policies pertaining to COVID-19. BHS and its members and group leaders must also adhere to any requirements set by the venues we use to offer in-person classes and events.
1. Requirements for attending in-person classes and events: All in-person seminar participants, as well as the group leader(s) and presenters, must follow all governmental requirements governing proof of vaccination and mask-wearing as well as any requirements imposed by the venue offering the course.
2. Consent: In-person class participants and group leaders must agree to not attend a class or event if they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or any other communicable disease, or if they have been in close contact with someone who recently tested positive for an infectious disease.
3. Liability Waiver: In-person class participants and group leaders must agree to release and hold harmless Beacon Hill Seminars, its employees, directors, and officers from and against all liability and claims of legal responsibility for injury, illness, disability, or death caused by any disease, including COVID-19.
This seminar focuses on the art of Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, 1483–1520). This High Renaissance painter lived most of his life in Rome, the “eternal city.” Under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, Raphael composed works of art that were infused with atmospheric perspective, softened color transitions (sfumato), brilliance of color, anatomical accuracy, and grazia (grace). His graceful forms and designs moved viewers and influenced artists throughout succeeding centuries, in particular the British Academy of Joshua Reynolds, the Pre-Raphaelite painters, and the artists of the Nazarene movement. The seminar will discuss Raphael’s drawings, paintings and architecture as well as the impact of his art as disseminated through the printmaking of Marcantonio Raimondi.
Liana De Girolami Cheney, PhD, is Emerita Professor of Art History from UMASS Lowell and the winner of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a Renaissance and Mannerist scholar, author, and coauthor of numerous articles and books including: Botticelli’s Neoplatonism in his Mythological Painting; The Homes of Giorgio Vasari; Giorgio Vasari’s Teachers: Sacred and Profane Love; Neoplatonism and the Art; Giuseppe Arcimboldo: The Magic Painting; Readings in Italian Mannerism I and II; Giorgio Vasari’s Art and Art Theory; Giorgio Vasari’s Artistic and Emblematic Manifestations; Agnolo Bronzino: The Florentine Muse; Lavinia Fontana’s Mythological Paintings; and Barbara Longhi from Ravenna.