The Italian Institute of Culture in Sydney has organised “Leonardo da Vinci: the Renaissance Man par excellence”, a series of lectures to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death. This course – 4 lectures at the IIC from February 5th to 26th 2019 – explores the long and varied career of this emblematic “Renaissance Man”. The course begins with the context of Leonardo’s artistic training in Florence, examining his first paintings carefully and the reasons for his move to Milan. It continues following his life and his career as a court artist and engineer for the Sforza family: the demonstrations and processions that Leonardo has orchestrated, the technically brilliant equestrian monument he designed, and the beautiful lover of the duke he immortalised . With the outbreak of Italian wars, the course will follow Leonardo to Rome and then to France, where he continued with his scientific and military inventions, and embarked on a career in the service of King Francis I. Finally, the courses concludes with Leonardo’s posthumous fortunes, from the establishment of his legend dating from the nineteenth century, to the current, feverish search for the next autographed painting.
