Royal Collection Trust
Catalogue Researcher (Leonardo da Vinci)
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Royal Collection Trust
Royal Collection Trust aims to celebrate the Royal Collection, deepening its understanding and broadening its reach through enriching experiences across royal residences and The King’s Galleries, as well as through loans to museums, galleries and online and academic resources.
The Role
The Prints and Drawings section of the Pictures team is responsible for all works of art on paper in the Royal Collection. This includes almost 600 drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, the most important group of Leonardo's work in existence. As a Catalogue Researcher based at Windsor Castle, you'll help prepare a comprehensive scholarly catalogue of the Leonardo drawings, scheduled for publication in 2030/31.
Working closely with the author, you'll undertake detailed research to ensure that every entry reflects the latest scholarship, with comprehensive bibliographic references. Your contribution will play an important role in creating a definitive academic resource and you will receive full acknowledgement in the published catalogue.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct research into the scholarly literature relating to each Leonardo drawing in the Royal Collection.
- Review and summarise recent academic publications to support the preparation of catalogue entries.
- Compile and maintain comprehensive bibliographic references, ensuring accuracy, consistency and completeness throughout.
- Support the development of editorial conventions and style guidance for the transcription of Leonardo's notes in Italian and their translation into modern English.
- Work collaboratively with the author to review and check transcriptions and translations, ensuring consistency and adherence to agreed standards.
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In all you do, you’ll contribute to the accuracy and authority of a major scholarly publication through meticulous research, analysis and attention to detail.
Essential Criteria
- You'll hold a PhD or equivalent doctoral qualification in the History of Art, ideally with a specialism in Italian Renaissance art.
- Fluent in reading Italian and with a working reading knowledge of French and German, you'll be comfortable working with primary source material and international scholarship.
- An experienced researcher, you'll be confident conducting complex scholarly research and compiling detailed academic bibliographies to a consistently high standard.
- With an in-depth knowledge of Italian Renaissance art and current developments in the field, you'll be able to evaluate, combine and integrate a wide range of scholarly material. A strong knowledge of Leonardo da Vinci and the scholarship surrounding his work would be an advantage, as would experience researching or working with Old Master drawings.
- Familiar with the conventions of academic publishing, you'll have the attention to detail needed to work accurately within established editorial and bibliographic standards.
- Highly organised and analytical, you'll be able to manage significant volumes of complex information, ensuring accuracy and consistency throughout your work.
- Whether gained in a museum, gallery, academic or related environment, experience contributing to significant research or publication projects would be beneficial.
- With a collaborative approach and the ability to work independently, you'll be comfortable supporting a major scholarly publication project over the long term while maintaining the highest academic standards.
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What We Offer
We know that to deliver our best work; we need to feel at our best. That’s why at the Royal Household we offer a generous benefits package designed to support your wellbeing and life priorities.
- Enjoy 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 days (pro rata, plus bank holidays)
- Our excellent non-contributory pension plan is highly valued by our employees, as is complimentary lunch on-site to keep you fuelled throughout the day.
- We also offer a range of leave options to support your life priorities, such as parental pay and leave and volunteering days, as well as benefits to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
- Other perks include 20% off at our Royal Collection Trust Shops and complimentary admission tickets across all our locations, along with many more exclusive employee discounts.
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