The Private Life of a Masterpiece (2001)
- Genre: Documentary
- First Air Date: 2001-02-16
- Last Air Date: 2010-12-25
- Total Seasons: 10
- Total Episodes: 30
- Status: Ended
- Episode Runtime: 50 min.
- Network: BBC Two
Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC arts documentary series that tells the stories behind great works of art reaching from the Renaissance to modern art. David by Michelangelo, The Scream by Edvard Munch, The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya, The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn, Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso, The Annunciation by Jan van Eyck, ... The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer. For behind the beautiful canvases and sculptures are tales of political revolution, wartime escapes, massive ego clashes, social scandal, financial wrangling and shocking violence. The series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.
| Title | Air Date | Duration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Episode 1 | Edvard Munch: The Scream | 2001-05-30 | 50 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 2 | Michelangelo: David | 2001-12-08 | 50 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 1 | Édouard Manet: Le déjeuner sur l'herbe | 2003-01-18 | 50 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 2 | Diego Velázquez: The Rokeby Venus | 2003-01-25 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 1 | Auguste Rodin: The Kiss | 2004-01-19 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 2 | Francisco Goya: The Third of May 1808 | 2004-01-26 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 3 | Auguste Renoir: Dance At The Moulin de lA Galette | 2004-02-02 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 4 | Rembrandt: The Night Watch | 2004-02-09 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 5 | Sandro Botticelli: The Primavera | 2004-02-16 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 6 | Hokusai: The Great Wave | 2004-04-17 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 7 | Edgar Degas: Little Dancer, Aged 14 | 2004-04-24 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 8 | Vincent Van Gogh: The Sunflowers | 2004-05-01 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 9 | Pablo Picasso: Les Demoiselles D'Avignon | 2004-05-08 | 50 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 10 | James Whistler: Portrait Of The Artist's Mother | 2004-05-15 | 50 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 1 | Eugène Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People | 2005-04-02 | 50 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 2 | Johannes Vermeer: The Art of Painting | 2005-04-09 | 50 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 3 | Georges Seurat: Sunday on La Grande Jatte - 1884 | 2005-04-23 | 50 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 4 | Gustav Klimt: The Kiss | 2005-04-30 | 50 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 5 | Paolo Uccello: The Battle of San Romano | 2005-04-16 | 50 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 1 | Leonardo Da Vinci: The Last Supper | 2006-04-13 | 50 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 2 | Salvador Dali: Christ of St John of The Cross | 2006-04-14 | 50 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 3 | Piero della Francesca: The Resurrection | 2006-04-17 | 50 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 1 | Jan Van Eyck: The Annunciation | 2006-12-24 | 50 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 2 | Pieter Breugel: Census at Bethlehem | 2006-12-25 | 50 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 3 | Paul Gauguin: God's Child | 2006-12-26 | 50 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 1 | Caravaggio: The Taking of Christ | 2009-04-11 | 50 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 2 | Sandro Botticelli: Mystic Nativity | 2009-12-25 | 50 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 1 | Rogier Van Der Weyden: The Descent From The Cross | 2010-04-03 | 50 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 2 | Fra Filippo Lippi: The Adoration of the Christ Child | 2010-12-25 | 50 min |
