From the grotesque and diabolic paintings of Hieronymus Bosch to the delicate hues of the Impressionist painters, and from the early anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci to the stark minimalism of Mondrian, BBC Television today announced a raft of visually arresting new commissions.
Announcing four major new visual arts series for BBC Television, Adam Kemp, commissioner for Arts and Culture, said: "Engaging audiences in our arts programmes is about being inventive and imaginative in our approach to subjects; whether it's bringing to life the world of the Impressionist painters by using drama based entirely on factual evidence, or tackling subjects from new angles as with the BBC TWO series on drawing.
"Arts and cultural programmes are flourishing on BBC Television and these four new commissions are only a taster of the rich and diverse range of programmes we will be offering over the coming months and years."
On BBC ONE, a major three-part factual drama series unravels the intimate history of The Impressionists.
To contemporary eyes, Impressionist paintings possess a simple and familiar beauty: the delicate hues of Monet's water lilies and Degas' exquisite ballerinas.
But these paintings caused riots in the art world when they first appeared in Paris at the end of the 19th century.
Viciously attacked by critics and rejected by the public, the Impressionist painters were outcasts in the art world.
Filmed in France and entirely based on an extensive archive of letters and documentary evidence, The Impressionists tells the intimate history of the brotherhood of Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, Manet and Degas in their own words.
Presented by architectural historian Dan Cruikshank, Marvels Of The Modern Age is a four-part series for BBC TWO which traces the roots of the movement that a century ago shocked culture to its core.
Exploring the careers and inspirations of some of its leading practitioners and proponents, such as Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright and James Joyce, the series explores modernism in fashion, art, design, advertising, architecture, politics and film.
The Renaissance didn't just happen in Italy. A revolution in the visual arts took place in 16th century Northern Europe - the effects of which can still be felt today.
In a three-part series for BBC FOUR, Northern Renaissance, Professor Joseph Koerner of the Courtauld Institute of Art travels to Nuremberg, Munich, Vienna, Ghent, Bruges and Venice to tell the story of how a group of brilliant painters and engravers radically expanded the possibilities of visual art.
Some of the finest and most closely studied masterpieces ever seen were created by these northern European alchemists.
Through pioneering new technologies in painting and by harnessing the potential of the recently-invented printing process, Van Eyck, Durer, Brueghel and Bosch were true innovators of the Renaissance.
Also on BBC TWO, Andrew Graham-Dixon explores The Secret Of Drawing.
Often dismissed by comparison to painting or sculpture, Andrew Graham-Dixon takes viewers on a journey of discovery in which the history of art, the lives of some of our greatest artists, the world we live in today and the way we see ourselves will be, quite literally, redrawn.
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