In 1600, when Shakespeare's audience at the Globe heard 'Hamlet' for the first time, every one of them knew very well what… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
London theatre is different: it is a commercial theatre that brings the whole of society into one place. And Shakespeare grasped, better… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
In a very literal way, of course, Shakespeare did change the course of history: when it didn't fit the plot he had… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
I feel I understand now why, whenever there are revolutions, Shakespeare is what people turn to. Because whenever a society is on… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
“And the more you look at the history of Homo sapiens, it’s all about movement, right from the very first time they decided to… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
In the world of the Middle East at the moment, the debates are shrill. But ... the wisest voice of all of them may… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
The focus in the Western pictorial tradition is on the body of Christ, the bit you can paint, the Nativity and the infancy, but… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
For the Greeks, there was no single canonical version of creation, but a number of overlapping stories. — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
The deciphering of ancient scripts changed forever the way Europeans were able to imagine the story of humanity, destroying centuries of received authority about… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
The distinction between a gallery and a museum is enormous. The gallery is about looking at a thing of beauty; the purpose of the… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
While there are few records of Viking women participating in battle, they certainly held positions of high status in society as human sorceresses known… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
“Gold was the attribute of the great Inca sun god and represented his generative powers – gold was described as the ‘sweat of the… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
Creation stories, so central in the religions of the Middle East, play a surprisingly marginal part in Greek myth. The Greeks had nothing to… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
The collapse of the Tower of Babel is perhaps the central urban myth. It is certainly the most disquieting. In Babylon, the great city… — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
The spread of Viking bling is a good indication of the spread of its culture. — Neil MacGregor Copy Share Image
