CHESTERTOWN, MD—World-renowned art historian Martin J. Kemp, an emeritus professor at the University of Oxford, will deliver the 10th annual Janson-La Palme Distinguished Lecture in European Art History at Washington College on Tuesday, March 19.  His talk, “Leonardo da Vinci: Visions of Earth and Heaven,” will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts, on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue. It is free and open to the public. 

Martin J. Kemp, Emeritus Research Professor in the History of Art at University of Oxford, is known for his extensive knowledge of and insight into Renaissance imagery, Leonardo da Vinci, and the link between art and science. He has written several acclaimed books, including Leonardo and Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man. Kemp is co-founder of Universal Leonardo, a project established to deepen contemporary understanding of da Vinci through exhibitions, scientific research, and Web resources. 

“I think Leonardo, in his drawings and manuscripts, is able to represent almost every facet of the visual world in a way no one else has ever managed,” Kemp told artnet Magazine about his enduring fascination with the artist and inventor. “The material is just extraordinary. The universality and sheer visual punch of the material is unmatched.”

In addition to his prolific writing and research, Kemp has curated a number of exhibitions on Leonardo and other themes, including “Seduced: Art & Sex from Antiquity to Now,” at the Barbican Art Gallery, “Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, and Design” at London’s Victorian and Albert Museum, and “Spectacular Bodies: The Art and Science of the Human Body,” for the Hayward Gallery.          

On his web site, Kemp writes that he is “always interested in exploring something new,” and that in addition to his scholarly research and talks, he enjoys working with performers on innovative presentations he calls “performative talks.” His latest book, Christ to Coke: How Image Becomes Icon, was published in 2011 by Oxford University Press.

Kemp studied natural sciences and art history at the University of Cambridge and the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. Now teaching at Princeton University as the Robert Janson-La Palme Visiting Professor, he has held teaching and research positions at other prestigious institutions throughout the world. In addition to his post at Oxford, he has lectured at New York University and at the Universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Cambridge, Chicago and North Carolina.         

Established by Washington College professor emeritus Robert J. H. Janson-La Palme and his wife, Bayly, the Janson-La Palme Distinguished Lecture in European Art History brings internationally known scholars on European art to campus for public lectures and presentations.   

For more information on Martin J. Kemp, please visit http://www.martinjkemp.com/.