THE SOCIETY

The Society was founded by the late Kenneth Keele, who combined a distinguished career in medicine with important research into the work of Leonardo. Officers have included Sir Ernst Gombrich and Martin Kemp. It is notable that, while all three scholars could correctly be described as experts on the work of Leonardo, none of them was or is a specialist on Leonardo in the sense of carrying out research only into the work of Leonardo. That, of course, also tells one something about Leonardo.

The Leonardo da Vinci Society is well established as providing a forum for those interested in Leonardo or more generally in the aspects of the culture of his time to which he contributed. The Society's interests also extend to the Art/Science overlap in other periods (due account being taken of the historical evolution of both the terms concerned). See recent reviews and publications in the newsletter

Professor Frank A.J.L. James , Royal Institution Centre for the History of Science and Technology, Royal Institution of Great Britain, London; and at the University College London Department of Science and Technology Studies; email: fjames (at) ri.ac.uk .

The Leonardo da Vinci Society would welcome new members. To become a member, complete and post the membership form PDF or MS Word document . If you pay income tax in the UK, please also consider completing the Gift Aid portion of the membership form. For further information about membership, please contact one of the following committee members:

Since history of art is a better established discipline than history of science, Leonardo has in fact chiefly been studied from the art side, though (for instance) his innovatory methods of illustration, such as his use of an 'exploded' view, clearly had an influence well beyond the realm of what would now be called fine art.

In Leonardo's work we are seeing into a culture in which academic specialisations make a map very different from that of our own time, and in which, moreover, there is a considerable degree of social separation between a tradition of university learning, and a tradition of practical skills, despite a notable degree of overlap in subject matter. Nor is the advantage all to the person who is 'learned' in the sense of having university training or being able to read Latin. For instance, in Italy, when it comes to geometry or arithmetic, we may not assume that the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century 'scholar' knew more than the 'craftsman'. Also, the practical tradition fares better than the theoretical one in providing lasting monuments to skill. The dome of Florence cathedral (nearly finished when its designer, Filippo Brunelleschi, died in 1446) now looks much more impressive than fifteenth-century astronomical theories - and not only to non-specialists.

On the trivial level this means that many art historians take it for granted that his anatomical or optical drawings are correct (that is, in accord with twentieth-century views) while historians of science are sometimes at least equally impressionable, being dazzled by the beauty of the drawings with which they are confronted.

Within the history of art Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519) represents 'science' and within the history of science he represents art.

The Society also publishes a newsletter containing news, reviews and bibliographies, copies of which are available here . Suggestions of material, such as forthcoming conferences, symposia and other events, exhibitions, publications and so on, that would be of interest to members of the Society for inclusion in this Newsletter should be sent to: Dr Maya Corry , Oriel College, Oxford, OX1 4EW, UK; email: maya.corry (at) oriel.ox.ac.uk . ^

The 2019 AGM will be on Friday, 17 May at 5:30 pm at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Vernon Square

Penton Rise, King’s Cross, London WC1X 9EW, tel. (020) 3947 7658

At 6 pm, Professor Martin Kemp (Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford) will discuss:

Leonardo and the Ineffable



Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi, oil on walnut, c. 1501-1508, United Arab Emirates

It is taken as given that the painting of religious subjects stood at the centre of Leonardo�s practice. But his intense innovations in the spiritual presentation of Biblical figures have been underplayed, not least through a misunderstanding of his theological stance, which tends to be taken as equivocal or even coloured by heresy. The advent of the autograph Salvator Mundi, with its unique blend of spirituality and science, provides a prime opportunity to re-define his pictorial practice and religious attitudes across his career. A PDF poster/announcement of the lecture is here .

Admission is free; all are welcome. Previous annual lecture announcements are available here . ^

UNIVERSAL LEONARDO The Universal Leonardo web site (www.universal leonardo.org) is a resource on Leonardo da Vinci. Universal Leonardo is a programme of European exhibitions, scientific research and web resources on Leonardo organised by Artakt, Central Saint Martins College of Art ad Design, the University of the Arts London. Universal Leonardo is co-directed by Prof Marina Wallace, Central Saint Martins, and Prof Martin Kemp, University of Oxford. Highlights of the web site include an interactive timeline at the top of each page visualising the thematic links and interconnections in Leonardo's works over time; images revealing scientific analyses results carried out on The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (The Lansdowne Madonna); interactive games; a gallery of more than 100 zoomable images of Leonardo's works and exhibition details. ^ LA BELLA PRINCIPESSA La Bella Principessa and the Warsaw Sforziad, by Pascal Cotte and Martin Kemp This is a significant update to a book published in 2010 by Pascal Cotte and Martin Kemp, on an exceptional portait on vellum executed in inks and coloured chalks. This article offers evidence of the original location of the portrait in the Warsaw Sforziad. Beginning its journey as a German 19th-century pastiche in 1998, the portrait on vellum is now considered one of the works by Leonardo, about which we know most in terms of its patronage, subject, date, original location, function and innovatory technique. The article is here. ^



The Warsaw Sforziad, by Katarzyna Woźniak

This is a thorough historical assessment, as of May 2014, of the Warsaw Sforziad by Katarzyna Woźniak. As part of a larger project on this incunabulum and its possible association with La Bella Principessa, this essay is the first major historical study of the Warsaw Sforziad, developed with the help of archival evidence and previously unknown documents. The article is here. ^



La Bella Principessa and the Warsaw Sforziad. Circumstances of Rebinding and Excision of the Portrait, by Katarzyna Woźniak

This paper provides a detailed assessment of the circumstances of rebinding of the Warsaw copy of La Sforziada, and, according to the latest publication of Prof. Martin Kemp, parallel excision of the portrait of La Bella Principessa.

Extensive study of the history of the Zamoyski book collection as well as scrupulous analysis of alterations to the original volume – decoration of the new leather cover, watermarks on inserted sheets, bookplates, existing and obliterated inscriptions - have helped specify the time frame to the first years of the 19th century. Consequently, the identification of the individuals who were responsible for this restoration was possible.

On a wider historical panorama this text presents the rebinding of La Sforziada as part of the cultural and economical reform of the Entailed Estate of Zamosc, taken over by count Stanislaw Kostka Zamoyski in 1800. Furthermore, this study examines his close relationship to Princes Adam and Izabela Czartoryski, owners of Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine. The article is here. ^

Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, and the Sforziada by Giovanni Simonetta in Warsaw, by D. R. Edward Wright

This paper addressess the purpose of the Warsaw Sforziad, its iconography, provenance, historical background, and the uses of the four presentation copies on vellum. The article is here. ^

ART AND SCIENCE IN THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

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