Renaissance Futurities: Science, Art, Invention considers the intersections between artistic rebirth, the new science, and European imperialism in the global early modern world. UCLA Professor of Art History and Chicana/o Studies Charlene Villaseñor Black and Getty Museum Project Specialist Mari-Tere Álvarez reconsider the work of Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), prolific artist and inventor, and other polymaths such as philosopher Giulio “Delminio” Camillo (1480–1544), physician and naturalist Francisco Hernández de Toledo (1514–1587), and writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616). This concern with futurity is inspired by the Renaissance itself, a period defined by visions of the future, as well as by recent theorizing of temporality in Renaissance, queer, and ethnic studies.
CMRS is pleased we were able provide the opportunity to lay out the ideas that became the book. Our conference The Future Is Now: Art & Technology in the Renaissance & Beyond provided the impetus for the exploration that resulted in this volume, a transdisciplinary collection at the cutting edge of the humanities, the sciences, and the arts with contributions in history, art history, literature, media studies, mathematics, and medicine.