The National Gallery of Art’s 54th annual A.W. Mellon Lecture Series in the Fine Arts starts Sunday and runs through May 15.

This year’s series is the third focusing on non-Western art in the lecture’s history and will be given by Irene Winter of Harvard University. Winter is a trained anthropologist and noted art historian specializing in the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East.

Titled “Great Work: Terms of Aesthetic Experience in Ancient Mesopotamia,” the series will use ancient and contemporary art from present-day Iraq to show how material objects affect people. In the six-part Sundays-only series, Winter will show how gold used in a queen’s dress displays the aesthetics of radiance, how ivory used in furniture can show the aesthetics of skilled craftsmanship, and other topics.

The lectures are free and will be held in the auditorium at the National Gallery’s East Building. All lectures start at 2 p.m. and will last approximately two hours.

— Kaade Wallace