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Leonardo received a M.A. in Philosophy at the University of Florence (Italy) and a Doctorate in Humanism and Renaissance Civilization at the National Institute of Renaissance Studies in Florence. He recently earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis with a concentration in Italian literature and Designated Emphasis in Classics and Classical Reception. Leonardo’s research explores the intersection of religious and secular knowledge in late medieval and early modern Italy and Europe, with an emphasis on the topics of canonicity, gender, female spiritual literature, and the reception of the three Italian “crowns” (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio). 

He has published on the intellectual history of fifteenth-century Florence and seventeenth-century Venice with a focus on the eclectic nature of the so-called “religious humanism,” the representation of otherness in early modern women’s spiritual experience, and the philosophical foundations of the European querelle des femmes. Leonardo’s research on female religious literature in early modern Italy proves civically engaged, exploring issues of gender within the contemporary debate on women’s dignity and critiquing the very foundations of Western misogyny. Leonardo’s other research interest investigates the stereotypical perception of the indigenous populations of the New Indies within early modern European travel literature, which informs our understanding of the complex formation of Italian cultural identity, as being historically both the perpetrator and recipient of racial stereotyping.

Leonardo’s doctoral project focused on rediscovering the lyric voice of the Venetian writer Lucrezia Marinella (1571/9–1653), one of the most notable intellectual women of early modern Italy. Her varied corpus of spiritual and secular lyric poetry has been thus far largely neglected, yet it is foundational to understanding her renowned defense of women’s moral and intellectual excellence. Leonardo’s book project consists of the first modern edition, English translation, and commentary of Marinella’s Sacred Verses (Venice, 1603), a collection of spiritual poetry that uniquely employs the Counter-Reformation’s model of heroic sainthood to support the author’s proto-feminist stance. A remarkable expression of late Petrarchism, Marinella’s lyric poetry harmonizes pro-woman discourse, affective writing, and personal devotion in an interdisciplinary dialogue among literature, fine arts, and theology. Thus, her work fully reflects the complex and syncretic nature of post-Tridentine culture, while also promoting a progressive and dynamic image of Marinella’s authorial persona.

For the past twelve years, Leonardo has taught many courses at all levels, in both English and Italian, in Italian language and culture, as well as in world literature, serving a diverse student population. His teaching is rooted in learner-based instruction methods and embraces a transnational critical perspective that reflects his multidisciplinary and rigorous scholarly undertakings in medieval and early modern Italian and European culture, reception theory, gender and women’s studies, spiritual literature, translation, and Second Language Acquisition. In each of his classes, Leonardo’s primary goal is to foster transcultural awareness by challenging students to critically rethink their own cultural perspectives through student-directed investigation into Italy and Europe’s cultural landscapes.