January 31, 2012 — The National Endowment for the Humanities invites college and university faculty, graduate and postdoctoral students to apply to participate in a collaborative, three-week institute in Florence, Italy, focused on the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

The program – "Leonardo da Vinci: Between Art and Science," jointly sponsored by the
University of Virginia and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz-Max Planck Institute – is designed to encompass multiple disciplinary perspectives, including art and architectural history, Renaissance studies, the history of science, literature, philosophy and religious studies.

Participants will explore dynamic relations between early modern art and science, engaging in a multifaceted analysis of daVinci's many paintings, drawings and writings.
 
With this integrated approach, the institute has two main aims, said Francesca Fiorani. associate professor of Italian Renaissance Art in the College of Arts & Sciences, who will direct the institute, to be held June 25 through July 13.

First, the institute will focus on a deep understanding of the interrelated activities of the artist, examining how Leonardo connected scientific investigation of the world with his activity as a painter, the interaction between word and image in his writings, and the significance of his unique legacy today.

More broadly, the institute will investigate the status of images in the construction and transmission of knowledge, the boundaries of observation and representation, and the articulation of these issues in 16th-century philosophy and art theory.  A faculty of internationally renowned scholars will introduce the main topics of the institute

The deadline for applications is March 1. See the website for further details. Address inquiries to Fiorani at: McIntire Department of Art, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400130, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4130, or email them to ff6f@virginia.edu.