The Alnwick Castle Podcast
Alnwick Castle is one of North East England's top visitor attractions and has been part of British history for nearly 1,000 years. Now, Alnwick Castle has a podcast! Join hosts Daniel and Deborah, and regular special guests, as they discuss fascinating aspects of Alnwick Castle's history, from the people that lived there to its connections with famous events, its place as a filming location, and more. New episodes will be available every two weeks - make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any!
The Alnwick Castle Podcast
76 - Sebastiano del Piombo - with Piers Baker-Bates
The Alnwick Castle Podcast returns for 2025! Before we get into the description of this episode, a quick programming note. New episodes of the podcast will now arrive on the last Wednesday of each month, or every four weeks. Please make sure to stay subscribed so you do not miss any.
On this episode, we travel to Rome during the Italian Renaissance to explore one of the most impressive parts of the Alnwick Castle art collection. The Visitation by Sebastiano del Piombo catches the eye of every visitor who walks through the Ante Library in the State Rooms. But who was Sebastiano? What was the argument he had with Michelangelo? Why are these fragments of an unfinished artwork important? And how did they end up in Alnwick?
To answer all these questions and many more, we spoke to an expert - Dr Piers Baker-Bates of the Open University, who has a book soon to be published about Sebastiano, one of the most pioneering painters in 16th century Italy.
We hope you enjoy learning more about Renaissance art, Sebastiano, and The Visitation. To see the images Piers describes in our conversation, please check our social media feeds - pictures of The Visitation will accompany the posts about this podcast.
We'll see you at the end of February for the next episode of the Alnwick Castle Podcast!