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Leonardo da Vinci: The Louvre Exhibit with Marie Dessaillen

Leonardo da Vinci: The Louvre Exhibit with Marie Dessaillen


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Can't make this time? A video recording will be sent to all participants after the seminar.

Leonardo da Vinci was a legendary figure that our modern times adore religiously. A man of many talents, he studied sculpture, painting, architecture, poetry, the art of war, anatomy, and natural sciences. He organized parties for his patrons and played music like an angel. Despite his sprawling curiosity, he managed to unite his interest in science and art in his paintings.

His way to achieve ideal perfection was drawing. His time in Florentine sculptor and painter Verrocchio's studio taught him techniques of drawing that he used his entire life. But he also revolutionized the process of creation by inventing a quicker, more flowing line, in movement. He also mastered the sfumato, connecting the eye of the sculptor with it's 3D technique to that of the painter, giving his characters a lifelike quality never seen before. What museums usually show of Leonardo da Vinci's work are his paintings. But his reputation as a genius, recognized by his contemporaries in his lifetime, saved his drawings as well, and through them, we can learn much on the evolution of his creations. We do not always have written historical evidence when Leonardo da Vinci is concerned. But thanks to modern science, we can see past the paint. On the occasion of the 500 years of his death, the Louvre exhibition presented what the research on Leonardo da Vinci has been unearthing in the last decade. We’ll discuss this in our seminar together as we learn more about this remarkable figure.



The daughter of a sculptor, Marie has been surrounded by art ever since she was born. A native Parisienne, she holds an undergraduate degree in history and art history, with a specialty in iconography and French and Flemish paintings from the 16th to the 18th centuries. She also holds a Master's degree in museology from the Ecole du Louvre and one in Art History from the Sorbonne.

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 18 reviews
94%
(17)
6%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
J
John Bodoia (Seattle, US)
Great Seminar

This was an excellent discussion of Leonardo's drawings and recent discoveries about his technique that have been made by examining the underlying layers.

C
Carolyn Thomas-Davidoff (Western Springs, US)
A Very Informative Presentation on Leonardo da Vinci by Marie D.

This is the second presentation that I have seen by Marie Dessaillen, and I am once again impressed by her scholarship and her enthusiasm for her subject matter. I would recommend any talk that she does in future.

N
Nancy Hall (Briarcliff Manor, US)
Time very well spent.

Marie is clearly a da Vinci expert but what is more, she is so enthusiastic, passionate about the subject matter and the individual works, especially the drawings. We started at 11 a.m. and the first time I looked up it was 12:30. I haven't been that captured by a presentation in a very long time.

M
Mair Morris (Chilliwack, CA)

Wonderful! Inciteful. Marie knows her subject.

D
Diane Wilkinson (Atlanta, US)
Leonardo da Vinci's Louvre Exhibit with Marie Dessaillen

I found the class interesting from a variey of aspects: history, painting and drawing techniques, cultural. So many details revealed new information to me.

Customer Reviews

Based on 18 reviews
94%
(17)
6%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
J
John Bodoia (Seattle, US)
Great Seminar

This was an excellent discussion of Leonardo's drawings and recent discoveries about his technique that have been made by examining the underlying layers.

C
Carolyn Thomas-Davidoff (Western Springs, US)
A Very Informative Presentation on Leonardo da Vinci by Marie D.

This is the second presentation that I have seen by Marie Dessaillen, and I am once again impressed by her scholarship and her enthusiasm for her subject matter. I would recommend any talk that she does in future.

N
Nancy Hall (Briarcliff Manor, US)
Time very well spent.

Marie is clearly a da Vinci expert but what is more, she is so enthusiastic, passionate about the subject matter and the individual works, especially the drawings. We started at 11 a.m. and the first time I looked up it was 12:30. I haven't been that captured by a presentation in a very long time.

M
Mair Morris (Chilliwack, CA)

Wonderful! Inciteful. Marie knows her subject.

D
Diane Wilkinson (Atlanta, US)
Leonardo da Vinci's Louvre Exhibit with Marie Dessaillen

I found the class interesting from a variey of aspects: history, painting and drawing techniques, cultural. So many details revealed new information to me.