November 8th, 2011

 

WORKSOFLEONARDO

 

Leonardo da Vinci - Painter at the Court of Milan

by

Mrs Shirley Smith

 

 

In 1481 Leonardo offered his engineering services to Ludovico Sforza, the powerful ruler of Milan, but fortunately he was employed as a Court painter instead.  This lecture will study his works and how they pushed the boundaries of art to a new level.

 

The lecture coincides with the forthcoming Exhibition at the National Gallery in London from November 2011 to February 2012. A day trip to visit the exhibition is being organized for Tuesday, 15th November.  Members should contact our Visits' Secretary if interested in going.

 

 

 

 

Biography

Shirley Smith graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first class honours degree in the History of Art, specialising in the Italian and Northern Renaissance.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a part-time lecturer for the University of East Anglia and for the Department of Continuing Education of the University of Cambridge.  She is particularly keen to set the art and architecture of the period in the context of the society for which it was produced.

 

Reading List

Leonardo Da Vinci; the marvellous works of nature and man, by Martin Kemp, Oxford University Press 2007

Leonardo Da Vinci; the complete paintings and drawings, by Frank Zollner,  Johannes Nathan, Taschen 2007

Italian renaissance courts; art and politics in the early modern age, by Marco Folin, ACC Editions 2010 (for information on Milan in the Renaissance)

There will be a catalogue to accompany the forthcoming exhibition entitled Leonardo at the Court of Milan, available October/November 2010