Leonardo Da Vinci
A Treatise on Painting
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Table of contents
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT TRANSLATION.
THE LIFE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.
DRAWING.
PROPORTION.
ANATOMY.
MOTION AND EQUIPOISE OF FIGURES.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE.
INVENTION, or COMPOSITION.
EXPRESSION and CHARACTER.
LIGHT and SHADOW.
CONTRASTE AND EFFECT.
REFLEXES.
COLOURS and COLOURING.
COLOURS.
COLOURS IN REGARD TO LIGHT AND SHADOW.
COLOURS IN REGARD TO BACK-GROUNDS.
CONTRASTE, HARMONY, AND REFLEXES, IN REGARD TO COLOURS.
PERSPECTIVE OF COLOURS.
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.
LANDSCAPE.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS.
FOOTNOTES:
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT TRANSLATION.
The
excellence of the following Treatise is so well known to all in any
tolerable degree conversant with the Art of Painting, that it would
be almost superfluous to say any thing respecting it, were it not
that it here appears under the form of a new translation, of which
some account may be expected.Of
the original Work, which is in reality a selection from the
voluminous manuscript collections of the Author, both in folio and
quarto, of all such passages as related to Painting, no edition
appeared in print till 1651, though its Author died so long before as
the year 1519; and it is owing to the circumstance of a manuscript
copy of these extracts in the original Italian, having fallen into
the hands of Raphael du Fresne; that in the former of these years it
was published at Paris in a thin folio volume in that language,
accompanied with a set of cuts from the drawings of Nicolo Poussin,
and Alberti; the former having designed the human figures, the latter
the geometrical and other representations. This precaution was
probably necessary, the sketches in the Author’s own collections
being so very slight as not to be fit for publication without further
assistance. Poussin’s drawings were mere outlines, and the shadows
and back-grounds behind the figures were added by Errard, after the
drawings had been made, and, as Poussin himself says, without his
knowledge.In
the same year, and size, and printed at the same place, a translation
of the original work into French was given to the world by Monsieur
de Chambray (well known, under his family name of Freart, as the
author of an excellent Parallel of ancient and modern Architecture,
in French, which Mr. Evelyn translated into English). The style of
this translation by Mons. de Chambray, being thought, some years
after, too antiquated, some one was employed to revise and modernise
it; and in 1716 a new edition of it, thus polished, came out, of
which it may be truly said, as is in general the case on such
occasions, that whatever the supposed advantage obtained in purity
and refinement of language might be, it was more than counterbalanced
by the want of the more valuable qualities of accuracy, and fidelity
to the original, from which, by these variations, it became further
removed.The
first translation of this Treatise into English, appeared in the year
1721. It does not declare by whom it was made; but though it
professes to have been done from the original Italian, it is evident,
upon a comparison, that more use was made of the revised edition of
the French translation. Indifferent, however, as it is, it had become
so scarce, and risen to a price so extravagant, that, to supply the
demand, it was found necessary, in the year 1796, to reprint it as it
stood, with all its errors on its head, no opportunity then offering
of procuring a fresh translation.This
last impression, however, being now also disposed of, and a new one
again called for, the present Translator was induced to step forward,
and undertake the office of fresh translating it, on finding, by
comparing the former versions both in French and English with the
original, many passages which he thought might at once be more
concisely and more faithfully rendered. His object, therefore, has
been to attain these ends, and as rules and precepts like the present
allow but little room for the decorations of style, he has been more
solicitous for fidelity, perspicuity, and precision, than for smooth
sentences, and well-turned periods.Nor
was this the only advantage which it was found the present
opportunity would afford; for the original work consisting in fact of
a number of entries made at different times, without any regard to
their subjects, or attention to method, might rather in that state be
considered as a chaos of intelligence, than a well-digested treatise.
It has now, therefore, for the first time, been attempted to place
each chapter under the proper head or branch of the art to which it
belongs; and by so doing, to bring together those which (though
related and nearly connected in substance) stood, according to the
original arrangement, at such a distance from each other as to make
it troublesome to find them even by the assistance of an index; and
difficult, when found, to compare them together.The
consequence of this plan, it must be confessed, has been, that in a
few instances the same precept has been found in substance repeated;
but this is so far from being an objection, that it evidently proves
the precepts were not the hasty opinions of the moment, but settled
and fixed principles in the mind of the Author, and that he was
consistent in the expression of his sentiments. But if this mode of
arrangement has in the present case disclosed what might have escaped
observation, it has also been productive of more material advantages;
for, besides facilitating the finding of any particular passage (an
object in itself of no small importance), it clearly shews the work
to be a much more complete system than those best acquainted with it,
had before any idea of, and that many of the references in it
apparently to other writings of the same Author, relate in fact only
to the present, the chapters referred to having been found in it.
These are now pointed out in the notes, and where any obscurity has
occurred in the text, the reader will find some assistance at least
attempted by the insertion of a note to solve the difficulty.No
pains or expense have been spared in preparing the present work for
the press. The cuts have been re-engraven with more attention to
correctness in the drawing, than those which accompanied the two
editions of the former English translation possessed (even though
they had been fresh engraven for the impression of 1796); and the
diagrams are now inserted in their proper places in the text, instead
of being, as before, collected all together in two plates at the end.
Besides this, a new Life of the Author has been also added by a
Friend of the Translator, the materials for which have been
furnished, not from vague reports, or uncertain conjectures, but from
memoranda of the Author himself, not before used.Fortunately
for this undertaking, the manuscript collections of Leonardo da
Vinci, which have lately passed from Italy into France, have, since
their removal thither, been carefully inspected, and an abstract of
their contents published in a quarto pamphlet, printed at Paris in
1797, and intitled, “Essai sur les Ouvrages physico-mathematiques
de Leonard de Vinci;” by J. B. Venturi, Professor of Natural
Philosophy at Modena; a Member of the Institute of Bologna, &c.
From this pamphlet a great deal of original intelligence respecting
the Author has been obtained, which, derived as it is from his own
information, could not possibly be founded on better evidence.To
this Life we shall refer the reader for a further account of the
origin and history of the present Treatise, conceiving we have
already effected our purpose, by here giving him a sufficient idea of
what he is to expect from the ensuing pages.
THE LIFE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.
Leonardo
da Vinci, the Author of the following Treatise, was the natural son
of Pietro da Vinci, a notary of Vinci, in Tuscany[i1],
a village situated in the valley of Arno, a little below Florence,
and was born in the year 1452[i2].Having
discovered, when a child, a strong inclination and talent for
painting, of which he had given proofs by several little drawings and
sketches; his father one day accidentally took up some of them, and
was induced to shew them to his friend Andrea Verocchio, a painter of
some reputation in Florence, who was also a chaser, an architect, a
sculptor, and goldsmith, for his advice, as to the propriety of
bringing up his son to the profession of painting, and the
probability of his becoming eminent in the art. The answer of
Verocchio was such as to confirm him in that resolution; and
Leonardo, to fit him for that purpose, was accordingly placed under
the tuition of Verocchio[i3].As
Verocchio combined in himself a perfect knowledge of the arts of
chasing and sculpture, and was a deep proficient in architecture,
Leonardo had in this situation the means and opportunity of acquiring
a variety of information, which though perhaps not immediately
connected with the art to which his principal attention was to be
directed, might, with the assistance of such a mind as Leonardo’s,
be rendered subsidiary to his grand object, tend to promote his
knowledge of the theory, and facilitate his practice of the
profession for which he was intended. Accordingly we find that he had
the good sense to avail himself of these advantages, and that under
Verocchio he made great progress, and attracted his master’s
friendship and confidence, by the talents he discovered, the
sweetness of his manners, and the vivacity of his disposition
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