Art History Lectures: Leonardo

The Athenaeum welcomes back art historian Linda Blair with a new lecture series, Leonardo. For many years Blair has been one of our most popular speakers. Due to popular demand the same lecture is being offered two nights per week. See our website for details.
How can we stretch our mere mortal minds to grasp Leonardo da Vinci’s genius in so many areas—science and art, engineering, mathematics, optics, geology, anatomy? The lecture series will cover the times and events leading up to Leonardo and then examine his life and works in detail. The lecture on Jan 14 and 17 is titled “Emergence of Realism, Giotto.” The Renaissance is not a gentle easing from one century to another, as history usually is, but a radical departure—humanism overtakes medieval piety, otherworldliness retreats before materialism, and spirituality bows to worldly concerns. Art reflects this confrontation between eras, and artists struggle to redefine man and man’s relationship with the Divine. It all begins with Giotto.