To: The Office of International Programs Re: Research trip to the Louvre (Paris) and National Gallery (London) To Whom It May Concern: I flew to Paris on Thursday, June 11, arriving the following day. I immediately made contact with my host at the Louvre, Mr. Delieuvin, curator of the gallery of 15th and 16th century painting, to be sure that my examination of Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks was still properly scheduled to take place the following Tuesday, June 16 when the Museum would be closed to the general public. Everything was indeed in order. Over the weekend I conducted some preliminary investigations of works in the Louvre’s collection that are potentially relevant to my analysis of Leonardo’s painting. I took some photos of the plants found in these works so that I could show them to Celia Fisher, the world-­‐renowned expert in plant symbolism in Mediaeval and Renaissance art, the following Thursday in London. On Monday, I visited the Musee d’Orsay in order to photograph and study works from the 19th century that would be useful for my courses at Drexel. My visit to the Louvre on Tuesday was fruitful. The work is sadly in need of restoration (they could actually begin with Windex, as the glass over then painting was quite dirty), but I was able to examine it close-­‐up and take several photos of details that I planned to show to Celia Fisher two days later. I took the train to London the same day, Tuesday, June 16. I met Celia at 10 am on Thursday and spent four hours with her going over the plant details in the painting and explaining my new interpretation of the work (which she enthusiastically endorsed). Her suggestions on several of the plant identifications contradicted the interpretations of several other scholars, but I think that she is right. As planned, I spent Friday morning at F.I.E.. I was given a tour of their facilities and then met with John Pearson who explained their operation to me and discussed the desirability/feasibility of my specific ideas for course offerings that would serve the new Art History major at Drexel. In the afternoon, I visited the National Gallery in order to examine the second version of Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks that is held in their collection. On Saturday afternoon, I returned to Philadelphia, armed with two sets of new and valuable information: one that I can use in my forthcoming sabbatical project, a new interpretation of Leonardo’s great painting, and the second, in the construction of study abroad opportunities for Drexel art history majors.