Leonardo 500: Studying, Visualising and Displaying Drawings and Manuscripts
When:
—
Venue:
Online
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the world’s best-known pre-twentieth-century artists. Much has been written about him and scholarly and imaginative works line the shelves of bookshops, and of institutional and private libraries. His portable paintings have sold in the multi-millions; some have been stolen and retrieved, others lost or mistakenly attributed, others still have not changed hands since the seventeenth century. However, Leonardo’s written legacy and the incredible variety of drawings that are found in his notebooks remain largely unknown. The breath of his investigations, the richness of his drawing techniques and, above all, the singularity of his work methods raise complex issues of interpretation and display. Traditional forms of study and visual engagement fail to do justice to the extraordinary fertility, spontaneity and rapidity of his mind and hand. This seminar paper aims to discuss some of the ways in which digital technology is now being used to address the challenges of his written and drawn legacy. Particular attention will be paid to a number of selected examples from exhibitions marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death that I have recently curated in London and Florence, and which have involved the collaboration of institutions such as the British Library, the Peltz Gallery, the Vasari Centre for Art and Technology, Ravensbourne College, and the Museo Galileo.
Contact name:
Centre for Museum Cultures
- Conferences/workshops
- School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
- Research students
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Centre for Museum Cultures
- Corporate website
- Public lecture or event
- ARTS: School
- ARTS: History of Art
- ARTS: Film, Media and Cultural Studies
- School of Historical Studies