652

The relation of art and nature.

HE WHO DESPISES PAINTING LOVES NEITHER PHILOSOPHY NOR NATURE.

If you condemn painting, which is the only imitator of all visible works of nature, you will certainly despise a subtle invention which brings philosophy and subtle speculation to the consideration of the nature of all forms—seas and plains, trees, animals, plants and flowers—which are surrounded by shade and light. And this is true knowledge and the legitimate issue of nature; for painting is born of nature—or, to speak more correctly, we will say it is the grandchild of nature; for all visible things are produced by nature, and these her children have given birth to painting. Hence we may justly call it the grandchild of nature and related to God.

Taken from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci edited by Jean Paul Richter, 1880.

VII * X
Notebooks of Leonoardo da Vinci
VIII: Botany for Painters and Elements of Landscape Painting.
. . .
632,
633,
634
On varnishes [or powders].
635,
636,
637
On chemical materials.
638,
639,
640,
641,
642,
643,
644,
645,
646,
647,
648,
649,
650
The relation of art and nature.
651,
652
Painting is superior to poetry.
653,
654
Painting is superior to sculpture.
655,
656
Aphorisms.
657,
658,
659
On the history of painting.
660,
661
The painter’s scope.
662
. . .