Leonardo, psychoanalysis & art history

by Bradley I. Collins

Whether psychoanalysis can, in fact, add to our understanding of art has long been a source of contention among art historians and psychoanalysts. Leonardo, Psychoanalysis, and Art History is the latest round of a lively intellectual debate that has taken place between the two disciplines over the decades. Using Freud's Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood as a starting point, Collins employs psychoanalytic theory to deepen and expand the psychobiographical understanding of the artist. He evaluates the factual and art historical basis for psychoanalytic claims, and the extent to which these claims illuminate specific works by Leonardo da Vinci.