Queenswood's academic scholars enjoyed a fascinating whistle-stop lecture on the ideals of female beauty in late Medieval and Renaissance painting in the Personalised Learning Centre.

The Senior Cultural Society organises a series of fortnightly lectures, delivered by members of Queenswood's academic staff on a subject of their choosing.

On Monday 19 November it was the turn of Teacher of Italian Mrs Annalisa Conway, who spoke about the convoluted beauty rituals undertaken by women in the 14th and 15th centuries. She used a wide range of artworks as her stimulus, including Botticelli's Venus and Mars, Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait and, of course, Leonardo's Mona Lisa.