From Robocop to Renaissance Art with Dr. Peter Weller
The iconic actor discusses the publication of his new book about the first modern treatise on painting
Rare Books LA Presents
From Robocop to Renaissance with Dr. Peter Weller
Dr. Weller will discuss the journey from modern film to Renaissance art, which personally led to his PhD and his first book, Leon Battista Alberti in Exile, published by Cambridge University Press.
A limited number of Dr. Weller's book Leon Battista Alberti in Exile: Tracing the Path to the First Modern Book on Painting will be available for purchase following his lecture. They can be pre-ordered here from Biblioctopus.
Weller's groundbreaking scholarship in "Leon Battista Alberti in Exile" fundamentally challenges the conventional narrative that Alberti's revolutionary treatise "De pictura" was primarily inspired by Florentine art. With remarkable analytical precision supported by over 200 images, Weller reconstructs Alberti's intellectual and artistic development during his formative years in Padua, Bologna, northern Europe, and Rome. As Weller incisively argues in his analysis: "Alberti did not go to Florence, see the city's art, and then write a compendium - on lines, points, mathematics, composition, narrative, portraiture, with ideas, form, style, syntax drawn from Seneca, Cicero, Quintilian, Pliny the Elder, Vitruvius, and Lucian - in a matter of months." Instead, his work demonstrates that Alberti's visual vocabulary and theoretical framework had been gestating through years of exposure to art and texts in Padua, Bologna, northern Europe, and Rome.
Best known for his roles in the RoboCop films and the screen adaptation of William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch, he has also appeared in Dexter, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and Star Trek Into Darkness. Weller earned a PhD in Italian Renaissance and Roman History from UCLA, and has been featured as an expert on a Roman era documentary for the History Channel.
Tickets to this talk are offered FREE with admission to Rare Books LA Union Station.
The iconic actor discusses the publication of his new book about the first modern treatise on painting
Rare Books LA Presents
From Robocop to Renaissance with Dr. Peter Weller
Dr. Weller will discuss the journey from modern film to Renaissance art, which personally led to his PhD and his first book, Leon Battista Alberti in Exile, published by Cambridge University Press.
A limited number of Dr. Weller's book Leon Battista Alberti in Exile: Tracing the Path to the First Modern Book on Painting will be available for purchase following his lecture. They can be pre-ordered here from Biblioctopus.
Weller's groundbreaking scholarship in "Leon Battista Alberti in Exile" fundamentally challenges the conventional narrative that Alberti's revolutionary treatise "De pictura" was primarily inspired by Florentine art. With remarkable analytical precision supported by over 200 images, Weller reconstructs Alberti's intellectual and artistic development during his formative years in Padua, Bologna, northern Europe, and Rome. As Weller incisively argues in his analysis: "Alberti did not go to Florence, see the city's art, and then write a compendium - on lines, points, mathematics, composition, narrative, portraiture, with ideas, form, style, syntax drawn from Seneca, Cicero, Quintilian, Pliny the Elder, Vitruvius, and Lucian - in a matter of months." Instead, his work demonstrates that Alberti's visual vocabulary and theoretical framework had been gestating through years of exposure to art and texts in Padua, Bologna, northern Europe, and Rome.
Best known for his roles in the RoboCop films and the screen adaptation of William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch, he has also appeared in Dexter, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and Star Trek Into Darkness. Weller earned a PhD in Italian Renaissance and Roman History from UCLA, and has been featured as an expert on a Roman era documentary for the History Channel.
Tickets to this talk are offered FREE with admission to Rare Books LA Union Station.
RARE BOOKS LA UNION STATION CELEBRATES FRANKENSTEIN
"It’s alive, IT’S ALIVE…!” Rare Books LA returns to Los Angeles Union Station on October 4-5, 2025 with a monstrous selection of antiquarian books, maps, fine prints, book arts, and more. This year’s fair is celebrating the release of Rare Books LA friend and patron Guillermo Del Toro’s new film Frankenstein on Netflix this November.
With support from AbeBooks, more than 50 exhibitors from London, New York, and everywhere in between will fill the Ticket Concourse at LA Union Station with an electrifying array of first editions and other historical material. Attendees are encouraged to join our partner Metro and hop onboard Metrolink, Metro Rail, or Amtrak for this transit-friendly book fair.
In advance of the book fair, Rare Books LA is supporting an exclusive evening of film and conversation benefiting the Los Angeles Public Library. Academy Award–winning filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro is sharing scenes from his highly anticipated adaptation of the 1818 Mary Shelley classic and discussing making the film with antiquarian bookseller Ken Sanders. Hosted by Netflix in association with Rare Books LA and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, proceeds from this special event will benefit the Library Foundation of Los Angeles (LFLA) in its mission to provide critical support for the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), including the long-term recovery of the LAPL Palisades Branch, which was destroyed in the January fires. The benefit will be held on Friday, October 3, beginning at 6:00 pm. in Hollywood. Tickets are $250 and patrons receive a movie poster, bookmark and a pair of tickets for Rare Books LA Union Station.
Rare Books LA Union Station takes place at 800 N. Alameda Street and is open to the public from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday, October 4, and from 11 am to 4 pm on Sunday, October 5.
Please visit our website for a list of exhibitors.
For tickets and more information about the book fair, please click here.