Universal Leonardo

Amongst the outputs from the Universal Leonardo project is this website. The project aimed at deepening the general and the specialised understanding of Leonardo da Vinci's work in art, science and technology. The project co-directors (myself, and Kemp) established a programme of linked exhibitions and scientific investigations in collaboration with high level international art and scientific institutions. Amongst the most significant collaborators were Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence; Department of Chemistry, University of Perugia; Nuclear Accelerator Laboratory, University of Florence; Siemens Medical Systems; Louvre, Paris; National Gallery, Washington; National Gallery, London; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence; Magdalen College, Oxford; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest; V&A Museum. Funding came from the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation, Bill Gates, L'Oreal, and private benefactors.
Nine exhibitions opened in 2006 in Florence, Milan, Munich, London and Oxford and some of the foremost scholars in the field participated in a programme of research publications, lectures, and educational events for which the website continues to be a focus and permanent resource.
The significance of this project was recognised by art institutions across the world, and by the Council of Europe, which deemed it exemplary for the CoE Culture and Exhibitions Programme in general. The site was voted website of the week by the 24 hour museum, given 5 /5 stars by WebUser magazine, and has been hailed as the most comprehensive website ever on Leonardo da Vinci.
My role as co-director has been for the whole period of 8 years, from the genesis through to the realisation of the project. My contribution to the extensive website continues, as does research work that I am now undertaking as author of a book funded by the CoE on the Leonardo Diaspora.