by the obscure and dark air, amid the smoke of the terrifying and
deadly engines, together with the thick dust which darkens the air, and
the flight in terror of wretches panic-stricken by horrible death; in
this case the painter will surpass thee, because thy pen will be used
up before thou hast scarcely begun to describe what the art of the
painter represents for thee immediately. And thy tongue shall be
parched with thirst and thy body worn out with weariness and hunger
before thou canst show what the painter will reveal in an instant of
time. And in this painting there lacks nothing save the soul of the
things depicted, and every body is represented in its entirety as far
as it is visible in one aspect; and it would be a long and most tedious
matter for poetry to enumerate all the movements of each soldier in
such a war, and the parts of their limbs and their ornaments which the
finished picture places before you with great accuracy and brevity; and
to such a representation nothing is wanting save the noise of the
engines, and the cries of the terrifying victors, {123} and the screams
and lamentations of those awe-stricken; neither again can the poet
convey these things to the hearing.
We will say, therefore, that poetry is an art which is supremely potent
for the blind, and the painting has the same result on the deaf.
Painting, therefore, excels poetry in proportion as the sense to which
it ministers is the nobler. The only true function of the poet is to
represent the words of people who talk among each other, and these
alone he represents to the hearing as if they were natural, because
they are natural in themselves and created by the human voice; and in
all other respects he is surpassed by the painter. Still more,
incomparably greater is the width of range of painting than that of
speech, because the painter can accomplish an infinity of things which
speech will not be able to name for want of the appropriate terms. And
seest thou not that if the painter wishes to depict animals and devils
in Hell with what richness of invention he proceeds?
And I once chanced to paint a picture which represented a divine
subject, and it was bought by the lover of her whom it represented, and
he wished to strip it of its divine character so as to be able to kiss
it without offence. But finally his conscience overcame his desire and
his lust and he was compelled to remove the picture from his house.
Now go thou, poet, and describe a beautiful woman without giving the
semblance of {124} the living thing, and with it arouse such desire in
men! If thou sayest: I will describe then Hell and Paradise and other
delights and terrors,--the painter will surpass thee, because he will
set before thee things which in silence will [make thee] give utterance
to such delight, and so terrify thee as to cause thee to wish to take
flight. Painting stirs the senses more readily than poetry. And if
thou sayest that by speech thou canst convulse a crowd with laughter or
tears, I rejoin that it is not thou who stirrest the crowd, it is the
pathos of the orator, and his mirth. A painter once painted a picture
which caused everybody who saw it to yawn, and this happened every time
the eye fell on the picture, which represented a person yawning.
Others have painted libidinous acts of such sensuality that they have
incited those who gazed on them to similar acts, and poetry could not
do this.
And if you write the description of certain deities the description
will not be held in the same veneration as the picture of the Deity,
because prayers and votive offerings will always be made to the
picture, and many peoples from diverse countries and from across the
Eastern seas will flock to it. And they will invoke the picture, and
not the writing, for succour. Who is he who would not lose hearing,
smell and touch rather than sight? Because he who loses his sight is
like the man who is driven from the world, because {125} he sees
neither it nor anything else any longer. And this life becomes the
sister of Death.
[Sidenote: Landscapes]
81.
I have been to see a variety of cloud effects, and lately over Milan
towards Lake Maggiore I saw a cloud in the form of a huge mountain full
of fiery scales, because the rays of the sun, which was already
reddening and close to the horizon, tinged the cloud with its own
colour. And this cloud attracted to it all the lesser clouds which
were around it; and the great cloud did not move from its place, but on
the contrary retained on its summit the light of the sun till an hour
and a half after nightfall, such was its immense size; and about two
hours after nightfall a great, an incredibly tremendous wind arose.
[Sidenote: Vegetation of a Hill]
82.
The grasses and plants will be paler in proportion as the soil which
nourishes them is leaner and devoid of moisture; the earth is leaner
and less rich in moisture on the rocks of which the mountains are
formed. And the trees will be smaller and thinner in proportion as
they are nearer to the summit of the mountain; and the soil is leaner
in proportion as it is nearer to the said summit, and it is richer in
proportion as it is nearer the hollow valleys. Therefore, O painter,
{126} thou shalt represent rocks on the summits of the mountains--for
they are composed of rocks--for the greater part devoid of soil, and
the plants which grow there are small and lean and for the greater part
withered and dry from lack of moisture, and the sandy and lean earth is
seen through the faded plants; and the small plants are stunted and
aged, exiguous in size, with short and thick boughs and few leaves;
they cover for the greater part the rust-coloured and dry roots, and
are interwoven in the strata and the fissures of the rugged rocks, and
issue from trunks maimed by men or by the winds; and in many places you
see the rocks surmounting the summits of the high mountains, covered
with a thin and faded moss; and in some places their true colour is
laid bare and made visible owing to the percussion of the lightnings of
Heaven, whose course is often obstructed to the damage of these rocks.
And in proportion as you descend towards the base of the mountains the
plants are more vigorous and their boughs and foliage are denser; and
their vegetation varied according to the various species of the plants
of which such woods are composed, and their boughs are of diverse
arrangement and diverse amplitude of foliage, various in shape and
size; and some have straight boughs like the cypress, and some have
widely scattered and spreading boughs like the oak and the chestnut
tree, and the like; some have very {127} small leaves, others have a
spare foliage like the juniper and the plane tree, and others; some
plants born at the same time are divided by wide spaces, and others are
united with no division of space between them.
[Sidenote: How to represent Night]
83.
That which is entirely devoid of light is all darkness; as the night is
like this and you wish to represent a night subject, represent a great
fire, so that the object which is nearest to the fire may be tinged
with its colour, since the object which is nearest the fire will
participate most in its nature. And as you will make the fire red, all
the objects which it illumines must be red also, and those which are
farther off from the fire will be dyed to a greater extent by the dark
colour of night. The figures which are between you and the fire appear
dark from the obscurity of the night, not from the glow of the
firelight, and those which are at the side are half dark and half
ruddy, and those which are visible beyond the edge of the flames will
be altogether lighted up by the red glow against a black background.
As to their action, make those which are near shield themselves with
their hands and cloaks against the intense heat with averted faces as
though about to flee; with regard to those who are farther off,
represent them chiefly in the act of raising their hands to their eyes,
dazzled by the intense glare.
{128}
[Sidenote: How to represent Storm]
84.
If you wish to represent well a storm, consider and weigh its effects
when the wind, blowing across the surface of the sea and the earth,
removes and carries with it those things which are not stable in the
universal drift. And in order to represent this storm adequately, you
must in the first place represent tattered and rent clouds rushing with
the rushing wind, accompanied by sandy dust caught up from the
seashores, and boughs and leaves torn up by the force and fury of the
wind, and dispersed in the air with many other light objects. The
trees and the plants bent towards the earth almost seem as though they
wished to follow the rushing wind, with their boughs wrenched from
their natural direction and their foliage all disordered and distorted.
Of the men who are to be seen, some are fallen and entangled in their
clothes and almost unrecognizable on account of the dust, and those who
remain standing may be behind some tree, clutching hold of it so that
the wind may not tear them away; others, with their hands over their
eyes on account of the dust, stoop towards the ground, with their
clothes and hair streaming to the wind. The sea should be rough and
tempestuous, and full of swirling eddies and foam among the high waves,
and the wind hurls the spray through the tumultuous air like a thick
and swathing mist. {129} As regards the ships that are there, you will
depict some with torn sails and tattered shreds fluttering through the
air with shattered rigging; some of the masts will be split and fallen,
and the ship lying down and wrecked in the raging waves; some men will
be shrieking and clinging to the remnants of the vessel. You will make
the clouds driven by the fury of the winds and hurled against the high
summits of the mountains, and eddying and torn like waves beaten
against rocks; the air shall be terrible owing to deep darkness caused
by the dust and the mist and the dense clouds.
[Sidenote: How to describe a Battle]
85.
In the first place you must represent the smoke of the artillery
mingled with the air, and the dust, and tossed up by the stampede of
the horses and the combatants. And you must treat this confusion in
this way: dust being an earthly thing has weight, and although owing to
its fineness it is easily lifted up and mingled with the air, it
nevertheless falls readily to the earth again, and it is its finest
part which rises highest, therefore that part will be the least visible
and will seem to be almost of the same colour as the air; the higher
the smoke, which is mingled with the dusty air, rises towards a certain
height, the more it will seem like a dark cloud, and at the summit the
smoke will be more visible than the dust. {130} The smoke will assume
a bluish colour, and the dust will retain its colour: this mixture of
air, smoke and dust will seem much brighter on the side whence the
light proceeds than on the opposite side; the more densely the
combatants are enveloped in this confusion the less distinctly will
their lights and shadows be visible. You must cast a glowing light on
the countenances and the figures, the atmosphere, the musketeers and
those who are near them, and this light diminishes in proportion as the
distance between it and its cause increases; and the figures which are
between you and the light will appear dark against a bright background,
and their legs will be less visible in proportion as they are nearer to
the earth, because the dust there is coarsest and thickest. And if you
depict horses galloping beyond the crowd, make little clouds of dust,
distant one from the other in proportion to the strides made by the
horses, and the cloud which is farthest away from the horse will be the
least visible; it must be high, scattered and thin, and the nearer
clouds will be more conspicuous, smaller and denser. The air must be
full of arrows falling in every direction: some flying upwards, some
falling, some on the level plane; and smoke should trail after the
flight of the cannon-balls. The foremost figures should have their
hair and eyebrows clotted with dust; dust must be on every flat portion
they offer capable of retaining it. {131} The conquerors you should
make as they charge, with their hair and the other light things
appertaining to them streaming to the wind, their brows contracted and
the limbs thrust forward inversely, that is, if the right foot is
thrust forward the left arm must be thrust forward also. And if you
portray a fallen man you must show where he has slipped and been
dragged through the blood-stained mud, and around in the wet earth you
must show the imprint of the feet of men and the hoofs of horses that
have passed there. You will also represent a horse dragging its dead
master, and in the wake of the body its track, as it has been dragged
along through the dust and the mud; you must make the vanquished and
beaten pale, their brows knit and the skin surmounting the brow
furrowed with lines of pain. On the sides of the nose there must be
wrinkles forming an arch from the nostrils to the eyes and terminating
at the commencement of the latter; the nostrils should be drawn up,
whence the wrinkles mentioned above; the arched lips show the upper row
of teeth. The teeth should be apart, as with crying and lamentation.
One hand shields the frightened eyes, the palm being held towards the
enemy; the other [hand] rests on the ground to sustain the raised body.
You shall portray others shouting in flight with their mouths wide
open; you must depict many kinds of weapons lying at the feet of the
{132} combatants, such as broken shields, lances, shattered swords and
other similar objects; you must portray dead men, some half covered,
some entirely covered, by the dust which is mingled with the spilt
blood and converted into red mud, and the blood is seen by its colour
flowing in a sinuous stream from the body to the dust; others in their
death-agony are grinding their teeth, rolling their eyes and clenching
their fists against their bodies and their distorted legs. Some might
be represented disarmed and thrown by the enemy, turning upon him with
teeth and nails to wreak cruel and sharp revenge; a riderless horse
might be represented charging with his mane streaming to the wind
amidst the enemy, and inflicting great damage with his hoofs. Some
maimed man might be seen fallen to the earth and protecting himself
with his shield, while the enemy, bending over him, tries to kill him.
You might show a number of men fallen together over a dead horse. You
would see some of the conquerors leaving the battle and issuing from
the crowd, clearing with their hands their eyes and cheeks of the mud
made by the watering of their dust-bespattered eyes. You would see the
reserves standing full of hope and caution, with brows alert, shading
them with their hands and gazing through the thick and confused
darkness, attentive to the orders of their captain; and likewise the
captain, with his staff raised, is rushing towards these {133} reserves
and points out to them the spot where they are needed; and you may add
a river with horses charging into it and stirring up the water all
round them into seething waves of mixed foam and water, which is
spurted into the air and among the legs and bodies of the horses. And
there must not be a level place that is not trampled with gory
footsteps.
[Sidenote: Envy]
86.
Envy offends with false infamy, that is to say, by detraction which
frightens virtue. Envy must be represented with the hands raised to
heaven in contempt, because if she could she would use her power
against God. Make her face covered with a goodly mark; show her as
wounded in the eye by a palm-branch, and wounded in the ear by laurel
and myrtle, to signify that victory and truth offend her. Draw many
thunderbolts proceeding from her as a symbol of her evil-speaking.
Make her lean and shrivelled up, because she is continual dissolution.
Make her heart gnawed by a swelling serpent. Make her a quiver full of
tongues for arrows, because she often offends with these. Make her a
leopard's skin, because the leopard kills the lion through envy and by
deceit. Place a vase in her hand full of flowers, and let it be full
also of scorpions, toads and other reptiles. Let her ride Death,
because Envy, which is undying, never wearies of sovereignty. {134}
Make her a bridle loaded with divers arms, because her weapons are all
deadly. As soon as virtue is born it begets envy which attacks it; and
sooner will there exist a body without a shadow than virtue
unaccompanied by envy.
[Sidenote: Fame]
87.
Fame alone rises towards heaven, because God looks with favour on
virtuous things; infamy must be represented upside down, because its
works are contrary to God and move towards hell. Fame should be
depicted covered with tongues instead of with feathers and in the form
of a bird.
[Sidenote: The Expressive Picture]
88.
A picture or a representation of human figures should be done in such a
way that the spectator can easily recognize the purpose that is in
their minds by their attitudes. If you have to represent a man of high
character, let his gestures be such as harmonize with fair words;
likewise, if you have to represent a man of low character, let his
gestures be fierce, let him thrust his arms towards the listener, and
let his head and chest be thrust forward in front of his feet,
following the hands of the speaker. It is thus with a dumb man, who
seeing two speakers, although he is deprived of hearing, nevertheless,
owing to the attitudes and gestures of the speakers,
understands the subject of their argument. I once saw at Florence a
man who had become deaf by an accident, who, if you spoke loud to him,
did not understand you, but if you spoke gently, without making any
noise, he understood you merely by the movement of the lips. Now you
can say, Does not one who talks loudly move his lips like one who talks
softly? In regard to this I leave experiment to decide: make a man
speak gently to you and note his lips.
[Sidenote: The Ages of Man]
89.
How the ages of man should be depicted: that is, infancy, childhood,
youth, manhood, old age, decrepitude. How old men should be depicted
with lazy and slow movements, their legs bent at the knees when they
stand still, and their feet placed parallel and apart, their backs
bent, their heads leaning forward and their arms only slightly extended.
How women should be represented in modest attitudes, their legs close
together, their arms folded together, their heads bent and inclined to
one side. How old women should be represented with eager, vehement and
angry gestures, like the furies of Hades; the movement of the arms and
the head should be more violent than that of the legs. Little children
with ready and twisted movements when sitting, and when standing up in
shy and timid attitudes.
{136}
90.
You will do as follows if you wish to represent a man talking to a
number of people: you must consider the matter which he has to treat,
and suit his action to the subject; that is to say, if the matter is
persuasive, let his action be appropriate to it; if the matter is
argumentative, let the speaker hold one finger of the left hand with
two fingers of the right hand, closing the two smaller ones, and with
his face turned towards the people and his mouth half open, let him
seem to be about to speak, and if he is sitting let him appear as
though about to rise, with his head forward; if you represent him
standing up, let him lean slightly forward, with his body and head
towards the people. You must represent the people silent and
attentive, looking at the orator's face with gestures of admiration,
and depict some old men with the corners of their mouths pulled down in
astonishment at what they hear, their cheeks drawn in and full of
lines, their eyebrows raised, and thus causing a number of wrinkles on
the forehead; again, some must be sitting with the fingers of their
hands clasped and resting on their knee; another, a bowed old man, with
one knee crossed over the other, and on the knee let him hold his hand,
and let his other elbow rest on his hand, and let the hand support his
bearded chin.
{137}
91.
You must represent an angry man holding some one by the ear, beating
his head against the ground, with one knee on his ribs, his right arm
raising his fist in the air; his hair must be dishevelled, his eyebrows
low and narrow, his teeth clenched and the two corners of his mouth
set, his neck swelled and [his brow] wrinkled and bent forward as he
leans over his enemy.
92.
The desperate man must hold a knife and must have torn open his
garments, and with one hand he must be tearing open the wound; and you
must represent him with extended feet and the legs slightly bent and
his body leaning towards the earth, his hair flying and dishevelled.
[Sidenote: Notes on the Last Supper]
93.
One who was in the act of drinking leaves his glass in its place, and
turns his head towards the speaker. Another, twisting the fingers of
his hands together, turns with stern brows to his companions. Another,
with his hands spread out, shows their palms, and shrugs his shoulders
towards his ears; his mouth expresses amazement. Another speaks in the
ear of his neighbour, and he, as he listens to him, turns towards him,
lending him his ear, while he holds a knife in one hand and {138} a
piece of bread in the other, half cut through by the knife. Another,
in turning with a knife in his hand, has upset a glass on the table.
Another lays his hands on the table and looks fixedly. Another puffs
out his cheeks, his mouth full. Another leans forward to see the
speaker, shading his eyes with his hand. Another draws back behind him
who is leaning forward and sees the speaker between the wall and the
man who is leaning forward.
{141}
III
THOUGHTS ON SCIENCE
* *
*
[Sidenote: Necessity of Experience in Science]
There is no human experience that can be termed true science unless it
can be mathematically demonstrated. And if thou sayest that the
sciences which begin and end in the mind are true, this cannot be
conceded, but must be denied for many reasons, and firstly because in
such mental discourses experience is eliminated, and without experience
there can be no certainty.
[Sidenote: Theory and Practice]
2.
You must first propound the theory and then explain the practice.
3.
Let no man who is not a mathematician read the principles of my work.
4.
In the course of scientific exposition the demonstration of a general
rule derived from a previous conclusion is not to be censured.
{142}
[Sidenote: Certainty of Mathematics]
5.
He who blames the supreme certainty of mathematics feeds on confusion
and will never be able to silence the contradictions or sophistical
sciences which lead to an everlasting clamour.
[Sidenote: Of Science]
6.
There is no certainty [in science] where one of the mathematical
sciences cannot be applied, or in those [sciences] which are not in
harmony with mathematics.
[Sidenote: From Leonardo's Dictionary]
7.
Syllogism: to speak doubtfully.
Sophism: to speak confusedly; falsehood for truth.
Theory: knowledge without practice.
[Sidenote: Definition of Science]
8.