Can a painting be read the way a play or movie is watched? What stories do the shapes and colors of the world’s great pictures tell? This program encourages viewers to analyze the narratives in painted images, illustrating possible interpretations for a long procession of famous works. Piero della Francesca’s The Flagellation, Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, Rubens’ Medici Cycle, Brueghel’s Blind Leading the Blind, Vermeer’s Woman at the Scales, David’s Coronation of Napoleon, and Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass—these are a few of the masterpieces which, with the help of the film, reveal their author’s insights into the human drama. (27 minutes)