Leonardo da Vinci: Artist and Thinker



Overview

Leonardo da Vinci advocated that painting was a form of visual knowledge. Discover his revolutionary ideas on the arts, the new role of the artist and status of painting. 

This hybrid lecture series will discuss Leonardo’s drawings, paintings and writings from his formative years in Florence to subsequent periods in Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and France. His major innovations in forms of invention and representation emerge in portraiture, history and devotional paintings, which will be examined within the interdisciplinary framework of art and science. Leonardo believed in an all-embracing theory of knowledge, in which the artist should study nature and its ‘laws’ in order to intellectually understand it and create a ‘second’ nature. A successful painting thus required the use of both hand and mind. 

Dr Juliana Barone is a leading expert on Leonardo da Vinci and the reception of his work in early modern Europe. She will also address Leonardo’s innovative works and thoughts within the wider context of the legacy of his Treatise on Painting through the seventeenth-century eyes of Nicolas Poussin and Stefano della Bella. 

Please note: this event will close to enrolments at 23:59 BST on 21 October 2025.

Programme details

Lectures take place on Fridays, from 11am-12:30pm.

Friday 24 October 2025 

The arts of painting, poetry, music and sculpture

Leonardo discusses the principles of painting by comparing it to the other arts. This lecture discusses Leonardo’s theoretical ideas in relation to the classification of the arts in the Renaissance and revision of the traditional ‘map of knowledge’. It also shows how Leonardo applies his theoretical principles in his visual works. 

Friday 31 October 2025 

Early Years in Florence

The formative years in Florence in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio were crucial for Leonardo. The Florentine context offered the springboard from which his new ideas on invention and representation were developed and expressed in his portraiture, historical compositions and devotional paintings.  

Friday 7 November 2025

Portraiture and the motions of the mind 

Leonardo considered the representation of bodily movements and of the inner motions of the mind to be crucial elements in a painting. This lecture will discuss these new forms of communication in Leonardo’s portraiture. 

Friday 14 November 2025

Narratives in space

One of Leonardo’s most revolutionary contributions consists of inventing new ways of drawing. This lecture focuses on his new use of the sketch and ‘brainstorming’ technique for the creation of large-scale narrative paintings. 

Friday 21 November 2025

Inventing devotional compositions

Leonardo’s new use of the sketch is also apparent in the invention of devotional paintings. However, his ‘brainstorming’ technique contrasts to the technique used in his workshop and by artists in his close succession. The latter can be characterised as a ‘mix-and-matching’ method which seems to have suited market demands for the creation of ‘Leonardesque’ paintings. 

Friday 28 November 2025

The Treatise on Painting: Paradoxical Legacies

Leonardo’s Treatise on Painting was not published in his lifetime. Its first printed edition came out in 1651, and in France. The visual message provided was very different from that offered in Leonardo’s own illustrations and in other seventeenth-century manuscript copies of his Treatise. This lecture discusses the plurality of Leonardo’s legacy across Italy and France. 

How and when to watch

Each lecture will last approximately 1 hour, followed by questions. Please join in good time before each lecture to ensure that you have no connection problems. We recommend joining 10-15 minutes before the start time.

Fees

Description Costs
Event Fee- virtual attendance £75.00
In-person event fee (Includes tea/coffee and a pastry) £90.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit or are a full-time student in the UK you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees.

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Juliana Barone

Tutor

Juliana Barone was awarded her Doctorate at Trinity College, Oxford University, had a Junior Research Fellowship at St John’s College, Oxford University, and is both Research Fellow at the Warburg Institute and Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has published extensively on Leonardo da Vinci’s visual and written works, as well as on their historical reception in Italy, France, England and northern Europe. She has also curated exhibitions in London, Milan and Florence, is on the board of specialised Leonardo journals, and of the Leonardo da Vinci Society in London.  

Application

Please use the 'Book' button on this page. Alternatively, please contact us to obtain an application form.

Accommodation

If you wish to stay with us before and/or after the event, please contact our Residential Centre for availability and discounted rates.

Call +44 (0) 1865 270362 or email res-ctr@conted.ox.ac.uk

Our accommodation in Wellington Square has been rated as 4-Star Campus Accommodation under Visit England. All bedrooms are modern, comfortably furnished with tea/coffee making facilities, Freeview television, private bath/shower rooms and free WiFi. For more details see our accommodation information.

IT requirements

We will be using Zoom for the livestreaming of this lecture series, and you will be able to submit questions via the Zoom interface. Joining instructions will be sent out prior to the start date. We recommend that you join the session at least 10-15 minutes prior to the start time – just as you might arrive a bit early at our lecture theatre for an in-person event.

Please note that this course will not be recorded.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support