Leonardo da Vinci between Art and Literature in the Twentieth Century

Leonardo da Vinci between Arts and Letters in the Twentieth Century. On the occasion of the fifth centenary, the international Conference (Friday 22 - Saturday 23 November 2019 Mendrisio, Academy of Architectur/ Lugano, University of Italian Switzerland) aims to weave the theme of the reception of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in the Twentieth century and contemporary age from different disciplinary perspectives (visual arts, architecture, history of historiography of arts, literature, etc.). The intention is to interweave themes of critical, visual, intellectual and political reception in a comparative perspective starting particularly from the celebrations on Leonardo on the occasion of the centenary of 1919 which is accompanied by numerous studies on the biography of the artist as well as recoveries and restorations of works as documented, among other things, by the research of Jean Paul Richter and Luca Beltrami already started in the previous century. Furthermore, the conference intends to reconstruct the historical, cultural and political context around Leonardo's 20th-century myth as a 'uomo della modernità', referring not only to his influence in the arts but also to engineering, technology and science. Finally, space will also be given to the influence of Leonardo as writer in the field of contemporary literature and poetry. The conference is divided into five sections: 1) Re-reading Leonardo: historiography and critical fortune; 2) Reviewing Leonardo: from myth to recovery; 3) Reviewing Leonardo: from reproduction to reinvention;4) Leonardo inheredit: intersections between literatures, arts and sciences; 5) Leonardo as writer, Leonardo 'rewritten'.