world? It is the head of astrology; it creates cosmography; it gives
counsel and correction to all the human arts; it impels {84} men to
seek diverse parts of the world; it is the principle of mathematics;
its science is most certain; it has measured the height and the
magnitude of the stars; it has discovered the elements and their
abodes; it has been able to predict the events of the future, owing to
the course of the stars; it has begotten architecture and perspective
and divine painting. O most excellent above all the things created by
God! What praise is there which can express thy nobility? What
peoples, what tongues, are they who can perfectly describe thy true
working? It is the window of the human body, through which the soul
gazes and feasts on the beauty of the world; by reason of it the soul
is content with its human prison, and without it this human prison is
its torment; and by means of it human diligence has discovered fire by
which the eye wins back what the darkness has stolen from it. It has
adorned nature with agriculture and pleasant gardens. But what need is
there for me to indulge in long and elevated discourse? What thing is
there which acts not by reason of the eye? It impels men from the East
to the West; it has discovered navigation; and in this it excels
nature, because the simple products of the earth are finite and the
works which the eye makes over to the hands are infinite, as the
painter shows in his portrayal of countless forms of animals, herbs,
plants and places.
{85}
[Sidenote: Music the Sister of Painting]
24.
Music should be given no other name than the sister of painting,
inasmuch as it is subject to the hearing,--a sense inferior to the
eye,--and it produces harmony by the unison of its proportioned parts,
which are brought into operation at the same moment and are constrained
to come to life and die in one or more harmonic times; and time is, as
it were, the circumference of the parts which constitute the harmony,
in the same way as the outline constitutes the circumference of limbs
whence human beauty emanates.
But painting excels and lords over music because it does not die as
soon as it is born, as occurs with music, the less fortunate; on the
contrary, it continues to exist and reveals itself to be what it is, a
single surface. O marvellous science, thou givest lasting life to the
perished beauty of mortals, which are thus made more enduring than the
works of nature, for these undergo forever the changes of time, and
time leads them to inevitable old age! And this science is to divine
nature as its works are to the works of nature, and on this account it
is worshipped.
[Sidenote: Painting & Music]
25.
The most worthy thing is that which satisfies the most worthy sense;
therefore painting, which satisfies the sense of sight, is more worthy
than {86} music, which merely satisfies the hearing. The most worthy
thing is that which endures longest; therefore music, which is
continually dying as soon as it is born, is less worthy than painting,
which lasts eternally with the colours of enamel. The most excellent
thing is that which is the most universal and contains the greatest
variety of things; therefore painting must be set above all other arts,
because it contains all the forms which exist and also those which are
not in nature, and it should be glorified and exalted more than music,
which deals with the voice only.
With it images are made to the gods; around it divine worship is
conducted, of which music is a subservient ornament; by means of it
pictures are given to lovers of their beloved; by it the beauties are
preserved which time, and nature the mother, render fitful; by it we
retain the images of famous men. And if thou wert to say that by
committing music to writing you render it eternal, we do the same with
letters.
Therefore, since thou hast included music among the liberal arts, thou
must either exclude it, or include the art of letters. And if thou
wast to say: Painting is used by base men, in the same way is music
spoilt by him who knows it not. If thou sayest that sciences which are
not mechanical are mental, I will answer that painting is mental. And
just as music and geometry deal with the proportions of continuous
quantities, and {87} arithmetic deals with discontinuous quantities,
painting deals with all quantities and the qualities of the proportions
of shadows, lights and distances, in its perspective.
[Sidenote: Painter and Musician]
26.
The musician says that his art can be compared with that of the painter
because by the art of the painter a body of many members is composed,
and the spectator apprehends its grace in as many harmonious rhythms
... as there are times in which it lives and dies; and by these rhythms
... its grace plays with the soul, which dwells in the body of the
spectator. But the painter replies that the body composed of human
limbs does not afford the delectable harmonious rhythms in which beauty
must live and die, but renders it permanent for many years, and is of
such great excellence that it preserves the life of this harmony of
concordant limbs which nature with all her force could not preserve.
How many pictures have preserved the semblance of divine beauty of
which time or death had in a brief space destroyed the living example:
and the work of the painter has become more honoured than that of
nature, his master!
If thou, O musician, sayest that painting is mechanical because it is
wrought by the work of the hands, music is wrought by the mouth, but
{88} not by the tasting faculties of the mouth; just and as the hand is
employed indeed in the case of painting, but not for its faculties of
touch. Words are less worthy than actions. But thou, writer of
science, dost thou not copy with thy hand, and write what is in thy
mind, as the painter does? And if thou wast to say that music is
formed of proportion, by proportion have I wrought painting, as thou
shalt see.
[Sidenote: Poet Painter and Musician]
27.
There is the same difference between the representation of the embodied
works of the painter and those of the poet as there is between complete
and dismembered bodies, because the poet in describing the beauty or
the ugliness of any body reveals it to you limb by limb and at diverse
times, and the painter shows the whole at the same time. The poet
cannot express in words the true likeness of the limbs which compose a
whole, as can the painter, who places it before you with the truth of
nature. And the same thing befalls the poet as the musician, who sings
by himself a song composed for four singers; and he sings the treble
first, then the tenor, then the alto and then the bass, whence there
results no grace of harmonious concord such as harmonious rhythms
produce. And the poet is like a beautiful countenance which reveals
itself to you feature by feature, that by so doing you may never be
{89} satisfied by its beauty, which consists of the divine proportion
of the limbs united one with another, and these compose of themselves
and at one time the divine harmony of this union of limbs, and often
deprives the gazer of his liberty. Music, again, by its harmonious
rhythm, produces the sweet melodies formed by its various voices, and
their harmonious division is lacking to the poet; and although poetry
enters into the abode of the intellect by the channel of the hearing,
as does music, the poet cannot describe the harmony of music, because
it is not in his power to say various things in one and the same moment
as can the harmonious concord of painting, which is composed of various
members which exist simultaneously, and the beauty of these parts is
apprehended at the same time, individually and
collectively,--collectively with regard to the whole, individually with
regard to the component parts of which the whole is formed; and for
this reason the poet is, as far as the representation of bodily things
is concerned, greatly inferior to the painter, and as far as invisible
things are concerned he is far behind the musician. But if the poet
borrows the aid of the other sciences, he can appear at the fair like
the other merchants, bearers of divers goods made by many artificers;
and the poet does this when he borrows the science of others, such as
that of the orator, the philosopher, the astrologer, the cosmographer
and {90} the like; and these sciences are altogether alien to the poet.
Therefore he is an agent who brings together diverse persons in order
to strike a bargain; and if you wish to know the true function of the
poet, you will find that he is no other than an assembler of goods
stolen from other sciences, with which he makes a deceptive mixture, or
more honestly said, a fictitious mixture. And with regard to this
fiction the poet is free to compete with the painter, since it
constitutes the least part of the painting.
28.
The painter emulates and competes with nature.
[Sidenote: Painting a second Creation]
29.
He who blames painting blames nature, because the works of the painter
represent the works of nature, and for this reason he who blames in
this fashion lacks feeling.
[Sidenote: The Painter Lord of All]
30.
If the painter wishes to see beautiful things which will enchant him he
is able to beget them; if he wishes to see monstrous things which
terrify, or grotesque and laughable things, or truly piteous things, he
can dispose of all these; if he wishes to evoke places and deserts,
shady or dark retreats in the hot season, he represents them, and
likewise warm places in the cold season. If he wishes valleys, if he
wishes to descry a great {91} plain from the high summits of the
mountains, and if he wishes after this to see the horizon of the sea,
he can do so; and from the low valleys he can gaze on the high
mountains, or from the high mountains he can scan the low valleys and
shores; and in truth all quantities of things that exist in the
universe, either real or imaginary, he has first in his mind and then
in his hands; and these things are of so great excellence that they
beget a harmonious concord in one glance, as do the things of nature.
31.
We can safely say that those people are under a delusion who call that
painter a good master who can only draw well a head or a figure.
Certainly there is no great merit if, after studying a single thing
during a whole lifetime, you attain to a certain degree of perfection
in it. But knowing, as we do, that painting includes and comprehends
all the works produced by nature, or brought about by the fortuitous
action of man, and in fact everything that the eye can see, he seems to
me to be a poor master who can only do one thing well. Now seest thou
not how many and diverse acts are performed by men? Seest thou not how
many various animals there are, and likewise trees, plants and flowers;
what a variety of mountainous or level places, fountains, rivers,
cities, public and private buildings, {92} instruments suitable for
human use; how many diverse costumes and ornaments and arts? All these
things should be considered of equal effect and value when used by the
man who can be called a good painter.
[Sidenote: Painting and Nature]
32.
If you despise painting, which is the only imitator of the visible
works of nature, you will certainly despise a subtle invention which
with philosophy and subtle speculation apprehends the qualities of
forms, backgrounds, places, plants, animals, herbs and flowers, which
are surrounded by light and shade. And truly this is knowledge and the
legitimate offspring of nature, because painting is begotten by nature.
But to be correct, we will say that it is the grandchild of nature,
because all visible things are begotten by nature, and these her
children have begotten painting. Therefore we shall rightly say that
painting is the grandchild of nature and related to God.
33.
Were a master to boast that he could remember all the forms and effects
of nature, he would certainly appear to me to be graced with great
ignorance, inasmuch as these effects are infinite and our memory is not
sufficiently capacious to retain them. Therefore, O painter, beware
lest in thee the lust of gain should overcome the honour of thy art,
for the acquisition of honour is a much {93} greater thing than the
glory of wealth. Thus, for this and for other reasons which could be
given, first strive in drawing to express to the eye in a manifest
shape the idea and the fancy originally devised by thy imagination;
then go on adding or removing until thou art satisfied; then arrange
men as models, clothed or nude, according to the intention of thy work,
and see that, as regards dimension and size, in accordance with
perspective there is no portion of the work which is not in harmony
with reason and natural effects, and this will be the way to win honour
in thy art.
[Sidenote: Painting & Sculpture]
34.
I have myself practised the art of sculpture as well as that of
painting, and I have practised both arts in the same degree. I think,
therefore, that I can give an impartial opinion as to which of the two
is the most difficult: the most perfect requires the greater talent,
and is to be preferred.
In the first place sculpture requires a certain light, that is to say,
a light from above, and painting carries everywhere with it its light
and shade; sculpture owes its importance to light and shade. The
sculptor is aided in this by the relief which is inherent in sculpture,
and the painter places the light and shade, by the accidental quality
of his art, in the places where nature would naturally produce it. The
sculptor cannot diversify his work by the various colours of objects;
painting {94} is complete in every respect. The perspective of the
sculptor appears to be altogether untrue; that of the painter can give
the idea of a distance of a hundred miles beyond the picture. The
sculptors have no aerial perspective; they can neither represent
transparent bodies nor reflections, nor bodies as lustrous as mirrors,
and other translucent objects, neither mists nor dark skies, nor an
infinity of objects which it would be tedious to enumerate. The
advantage [of sculpture] is that it is provided with a better defence
against the ravages of time, although a picture painted on thick copper
and covered over with white enamel, painted with enamel colours and
then put in the fire again and baked, is equally resistant. Such a
work as far as permanence is concerned exceeds sculpture. They may say
that where an error is made it is not easy to correct it. It is poor
reasoning to try and prove that the irremediability of an oversight
renders the work more honourable. But I say to you that it will prove
more difficult to mend the mind of the master who commits such errors
than to repair the work he has spoilt. We know well that an
experienced and competent artist will not make mistakes of this kind;
on the contrary, acting on sound rules, he will remove so little at a
time that his work will be brought to a successful close. Again, the
sculptor, if he works in clay or wax, can remove and add, and when the
work is finished it can be easily {95} cast in bronze, and this is the
last and most permanent operation of sculpture, inasmuch as that which
is merely of marble is liable to destruction, but this is not the case
with bronze. Therefore the picture painted on copper, which with the
methods of painting can be reduced or added to, is like bronze, which
when it was in the state of a wax model could be reduced or added to.
And if sculpture in bronze is durable, this copper and enamel work is
more imperishable still; and while the bronze remains black and ugly,
this is full of various and delectable colours of infinite variety, as
we have described above. If you wish to confine the discussion to
painting on panel I am content to pronounce between it and sculpture,
saying, that painting is the more beautiful, the more imaginative and
the more copious, and that sculpture is more durable, but has no other
advantage. Sculpture with little labour shows what in painting seems
to be a miraculous thing to do: to make impalpable objects appear
palpable, to give the semblance of relief to flat objects, and distance
to objects that are near. In fact painting is full of infinite
resources of which sculpture cannot dispose.
35.
Sculpture is not a science, but a mechanical art, because it causes the
brow of the artist who practises it to sweat, and wearies his body; and
for {96} such an artist the simple proportions of the limbs, and the
nature of movements and attitudes, are all that is essential, and there
it ends, and shows to the eye what it is, and it does not cause the
spectator to wonder at its nature, as painting does, which in a plane
by its science shows vast countries and far-off horizons.
36.
The only difference between painting and sculpture is that the sculptor
accomplishes his work with the greater bodily fatigue, and the painter
with the greater mental fatigue. This is proved by the fact that the
sculptor in practising his art is obliged to exert his arms and to
strike and shatter the marble or other stone, which remains over and
above what is needed for the figure which it contains, by manual
exercise, accompanied often by profuse sweating, mingled with dust and
transforming itself into dirt; and his face is plastered and powdered
with the dust of the marble, so that he has the appearance of a baker,
and he is covered with minute chips, and it appears as if snow had
fallen on him, and his dwelling is dirty and full of chips and the dust
of stone.
The contrary occurs in the case of the painter,--we are speaking of
excellent painters and sculptors,--since the painter with great leisure
sits before his work well clothed, and handles the light brush dipped
in lovely colours. He wears {97} what garments he pleases; his
dwelling is full of beautiful pictures, and it is clean; sometimes he
has music or readers of diverse and pleasant works, which, without any
noise of hammers or other confused sounds, are heard with great
pleasure.
37.
There can be no comparison between the talent, art and theory of
painting and that of sculpture, which leaves perspective out of
account,--perspective which is produced by the quality of the material
and not of the artist. And if the sculptor says that he cannot restore
the superabundant substance which has once been removed from his work,
I answer that he who removes too much has but little understanding and
is no master. Because if he has mastered the proportions he will not
remove anything unnecessarily; therefore we will say that this
disadvantage is inherent in the artist and not in the material. But I
will not speak of such men, for they are spoilers of marble and not
artists.
Artists do not trust to the judgement of the eye, because it is always
deceptive, as is proved by him who wishes to divide a line into two
equal parts by the eye, and is often deceived in the experiment;
wherefore the good judges always fear--a fear which is not shared by
the ignorant--to trust to their own judgement, and on this account they
proceed by continually checking the {98} height, thickness and breadth
of each part, and by so doing accomplish no more than their duty. But
painting is marvellously devised of most subtle analyses, of which
sculpture is altogether devoid, since its range is of the narrowest.
To the sculptor who says that his science is more lasting than that of
painting, I answer that this permanence is due to the quality of the
material and not to that of the sculptor, and the sculptor has no right
to give himself the credit for it, but he should let it redound to
nature which created the material.
38.
Painting has a wider intellectual range and is more wonderful and
greater as regards its artistic resources than sculpture, because the
painter is by necessity constrained to amalgamate his mind with the
very mind of nature and to be the interpreter between nature and art,
making with art a commentary on the causes of nature's manifestations
which are the inevitable result of its laws; and showing in what way
the likenesses of objects which surround the eye correspond with the
true images of the pupil of the eye, and showing among objects of equal
size which of them will appear more or less dark, or more or less
clear; and among objects equally low which of them will appear more or
less low; or among those of the same height which of them will appear
more or less high; or among objects of equal size {99} placed at
various distances one from the other, why some will appear more clearly
than others. And this art embraces and comprehends within itself all
visible things, which sculpture in its poverty cannot do: that is, the
colours of all objects and their gradations; it represents transparent
objects, and the sculptor will show thee natural objects without the
painter's devices; the painter will show thee various distances with
the gradations of colour producing interposition of the air between the
objects and the eye; he will show thee the mists through which the
character of objects is with difficulty descried; the rains which
clouded mountains and valleys bring with them; the dust which is
inherent to and follows the contention between these forces; the rivers
which are great or small in volume; the fishes disporting themselves on
the surface or at the bottom of these waters; the polished pebbles of
various colours which are collected on the washed sands at bottom of
rivers surrounded by floating plants beneath the surface of the water;
the stars at diverse heights above us; and in the same manner other
innumerable effects to which sculpture cannot attain.
39.
Sculpture lacks the beauty of colours, the perspective of colours; it
lacks perspective and it confuses the limits of objects remote from the
{100} eye, inasmuch as it represents the limits of objects that are
near in the same way as those of distant objects; it does not represent
the air which, interposed between the eye and the remote object,
conceals that object but as the veils in draped figures, which reveal
the naked flesh beneath them; it cannot represent the small pebbles of
various colours beneath the surface of the transparent waters.
[Sidenote: To the Painter]
40.
And thou, painter, who desirest to achieve the highest excellence in
practice, understand that unless thou build it on the solid foundations
of nature, thou shalt reap but scant honour and gain by thy work; and
if thy foundation is sound, thy works shall be many and good, and bring
great honour to thee, and be of great profit.
41.
When the work exceeds the ideal of the artist, the artist makes scant
progress; and when the work falls short of his ideal it never ceases to
improve, unless avarice be an obstacle.
42.
He is a poor disciple who does not surpass his master.
[Sidenote: Counsels]
43.
He is a poor master whose work is exalted in his {101} own opinion, and
he is on the road to perfection in art whose work falls short of his
ideal.
44.
Small rooms or dwellings help the mind to concentrate itself; large
rooms are a source of distraction.
45.
The painter should be solitary, and take note of what he sees and
reason with himself, making a choice of the more excellent details of
the character of any object he sees; he should be like unto the mirror,
which takes the colours of the objects it reflects. And this
proceeding will seem to him to be a second nature.
[Sidenote: The Painter in his Studio]
46.
In order that the favourable disposition of the mind may not be injured
by that of the body, the painter or the draughtsman should be solitary,
and especially when he is occupied with those speculations and thoughts
which continually rise up before the eye, and afford materials to be
treasured by the memory.
If thou art alone, thou wilt belong to thyself only: if thou hast but
one companion, thou wilt only half belong to thyself, and ever less in
proportion to the indiscretion of his conduct; and if thou hast many
companions, thou wilt encounter {102} the same disadvantage. And if
thou shouldst say: "I will follow my own inclination, I will withdraw
into seclusion in order the better to study the forms of natural
objects"--I say thou wilt with difficulty be able to do this, because
thou wilt not be able to refrain from constantly listening to their
chatter; and, not being able to serve two masters, thou wilt play the
part of a companion ill, and still worse will be the evil effect on thy
studies in art. And if thou sayest: "I will withdraw myself, so that
their words cannot reach and disturb me"--I, with regard to this, say
thou wilt be regarded as a madman; but seest thou not that by so doing
thou wilt be alone also?
[Sidenote: Advice to the Painter]
47.