Findings from research initiated by the many images of black people in paintings and sculpture in Venice
Over the past three years Leslie has visited Venice every February to give a series of lectures on Venetian art, and in that time, he has been fascinated by the many images he has seen of black people in paintings, sculpture and decorative wood carvings and furniture dating from at least the late 15th century and into the 17th. So, now, after much research and on-going continuing visits it is time to share his findings with this lecture on Art, Slavery and Commerce in Venice.
How to book this event:
No booking is required. Please arrive before 7.20pm to allow time to sign in. For non-members we suggest a donation of £10 per lecture.
Leslie Primo
Leslie is an art historian, author and broadcaster, graduating from Birkbeck, University College, London with an MA in Renaissance studies. He specialises in early Medieval Art and Architecture, Italian Renaissance art, German art in the age of Reformation, Medici & Patronage, and mythology in the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Leslie lectured at the National Gallery, London for 18 years, and has appeared on the BBC speaking in Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty, and on the Life of Michelangelo, and also presented Turner: Light and Landscape.
He was a contributor to the Oxford Companion Guide to Black British History, an art history consultant for the Getty publication, Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval and Renaissance Art and was published by the Royal Academy Magazine for the Entangled Pasts exhibition, 2023-2024. Leslie’s book, The Foreign Invention of British Art was published by Thames & Hudson in 2025.
OTHER EVENTS
Society
Mr Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski
14 Sep 2026 - 19:30
Trinity Church
High Street, Gosforth
High Street, Gosforth
Online Event
Are you sitting comfortably?
Society
Elaine Hansen
12 Oct 2026 - 19:30
Trinity Church
High Street, Gosforth
High Street, Gosforth
Online Event
A group of women artists and designers who contributed significantly to the development of the ‘Glasgow Style’.