Overview
Leonardo specializes in Latin American and Indigenous art, focusing on 19th-century Central America. His dissertation examines how visual and material culture were used by Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous communities in Totonicapán, the Mosquito Coast, and Talamanca as expressions of sovereignty, in response to European colonialism and the neocolonial projects undertaken by the republics of Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, respectively.
His book, Templo, palacio y centro social: la arquitectura y la ornamentación del Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica (Editorial UCR, 2023), analyzes the architectural and decorative design of the National Theater of Costa Rica (1890-1897). Leonardo’s work has also been published in academic journals and edited volumes. He has presented his work at conferences such as the CIHA World Congress, the CAA Annual Conference, the ALAA Triennial, the Native American Art Studies Association Conference, and the Central American Congress of History.
He received a BA and a Licentiate degree in History of Art from the University of Costa Rica, and a MA in History of Art from Cornell University. He has worked at the University of Costa Rica, the National Theater of Costa Rica, the Museum of Costa Rican Art (MAC), the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC), and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.
Leonardo was awarded the Zhu Family Graduate Fellowship in the Humanities for the 2025-2026 academic year. His research has been supported with grants and fellowships from the Newberry Library, the John Carter Brown Library, the British Library’s Eccles Institute for the Americas & Oceania, the Association for Latin American Art, the Getty Foundation, and Cornell University.
In the news
- Three members of History of Art Department Presented at Congress of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA)
- Leonardo Santamaría-Montero, PhD Student, Presented his recent book at the National Theater of Costa Rica
- Three History of Art Department Members participate in panel at Native American Art Studies Association (NAASA) Conference in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia