To Kill A King

S1 E4: "To Kill A King" explores the tumultuous period under the Stuart monarchs, where political, religious, and cultural rifts ignited wars across three kingdoms. Architect Amanda Levete ascends the Tulip Stairs in Greenwich’s Queen’s House, reassessing Inigo Jones' innovative design. Artist Tai Shan Schierenberg examines Van Dyck's portrait of the Earl of Pembroke's family, uncovering hints of the impending civil war. Artist Rita Duffy deciphers the venomous propaganda in Wenceslas Hollar’s "Teares of Ireland" woodcuts, while photographer Platon studies the Puritan aesthetic in Samuel Cooper’s raw miniature of Oliver Cromwell. This royalist-parliamentarian conflict, marked by bloodshed, ultimately led to a more inquisitive culture. The king's restoration spurred a creative surge in works, including by one of the first English women to earn a living by writing, Aphra Behn. Artist Angela Palmer admires Robert Hooke’s "Micrographia," and sculptor Thomas Heatherwick unveils Christopher Wren’s architectural brilliance in St. Paul’s dome.