Course · In person
Tuesday 10 November 2026: The Medici of Florence
See The Course for current availability.
Book with The CourseStories beyond the frame
See art with new eyes.
Leslie Primo writes, lectures and broadcasts on art and its histories, with a particular interest in Renaissance Europe.
On television
Rethinking King George III: In Ten Portraits, BBC Select
Watch the trailer and more television work
- Birkbeck, University of London: BA Art History; MA Renaissance Studies
- Eighteen years at the National Gallery
- Television and radio work for the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky Arts
Explore Leslie's lectures, courses, gallery visits, book and podcast appearances, or get in touch about a speaking engagement.
What's on next
Course · Online
Wednesday 11 November 2026: Focus on: iconography
See City Lit for current availability.
Book with City Lit
Course · In person
Wednesday 11 November 2026: Western Art from Classicism to Impressionism
Enrolment for the complete two-term course is open to all.
View at Imperial College LondonLectures, courses and trips
A study day
A History of Art
A study day offering a route through major periods and questions in the history of Western art.
A lecture
Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807): An Artist in 18th Century England
Angelica Kauffmann's training, Continental reputation and years in England provide the frame for this lecture.
Days out
Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery is in St Martin's Place, London.
Explore in your own time
Television appearances
Television
The Handel Scandal
A Sky Arts documentary on the controversial beginnings of Handel's Messiah, presented by the soprano Danielle de Niese, with a contribution by Leslie Primo.
Sky Arts
Television
How William Hodges Invented Paradise
Leslie Primo presents a HENI Talks film on the paintings William Hodges made on Captain James Cook's second voyage, and the gap between what he saw and what he chose to paint.
HENI Talks
Television
L.S. Lowry: The Unheard Tapes
A BBC programme about L.S. Lowry, using recordings made by Angela Barratt in 1972.
BBC Two
Listen and read
Book
The Foreign Invention of British Art
Leslie Primo's history of the artists from abroad who helped to shape art in Britain from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment.
Podcast
Primo & Payne: Great Art Explained
Leslie Primo and James Payne discuss art in Primo & Payne: Great Art Explained.
Writing
Depicting the Magi: origins, gifts and representing men of colour
Leslie Primo's essay on how the story of the Magi grew from its Eastern roots, how artists pictured the three kings and their gifts, and how European painters came to include a black king.