Events

“Leo Steinberg (1920-2011), Controversial Historian of Renaissance and Baroque Art”

Abstract
My friendship with Leo Steinberg (1920-2011) lasted 49 years. This paper discusses several of the more controversial ideas put forth in his career as an art historian, including ideas on the Renaissance/Baroque architect Borromini, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” and the significance of the sexuality of Christ. Steinberg was accused of being a Freudian theorist; I dispute this. Rather, Renaissance and Baroque artists broke with the non-sex-indicating tradition of Byzantine icons, to emphasize Christ’s and the Virgin Mary’s humanity.