Main entry:

Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519.

Title & Author:

Leonardo on painting : an anthology of writings / by Leonardo da Vinci with a selection of documents relating to his career as an artist ; edited by Martin Kemp ; selected and translated by Martin Kemp and Margaret Walker.

Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 1989.

Description:

viii, 328 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-319).
Knowledge, learning and experience -- General principles : The science of art -- The works of the eye and ear compared -- The science of vision in painting : The eye and light -- Introduction to perspective -- Perspective of size -- Colour and the perspective of colour -- Perspective of disappearance -- Light and shade -- The human body : Proportions -- Anatomy and motion -- Posture, expression and decorum -- Draperies -- The depiction of nature : Light in the countryside -- Distances, atmosphere and smoke -- Water -- Horizons -- Mountains -- Trees -- Trees seen in landscapes -- The painter’s practice : Ethics for the painter -- Judging works -- Advice for the young painter -- Criteria and judgements -- The life of the painter -- How effects should be achieved -- The studio and painters’ aids -- Wall painting and illusion -- The invention and composition of narratives -- Examples of compositions -- Examples of allegories and emblems: ‘fictions that signify great things’ -- Leonardo’s artistic career : Letters from Leonardo -- Memoranda -- Contracts and documents regarding commissions -- The end of Leonardo’s life -- Manuscript sources and notes -- Concordances -- Glossary of problematical terms.
Translated from the Italian.

Summary:

Leonardo's writings on painting were never edited by Leonardo himself into a coherent treatise. The book known as Leonardo's Treatise on Painting, first published in 1651, comprises a compilation of quotations, described by one early translator as a "chaos of intelligence." This anthology aims to bring order into the chaos, so Leonardo's views can be read in a logical and sequential manner. The authors have edited material not only from the Treatise but also from Leonardo's surviving manuscripts and from other primary sources, some of which are here translated for the first time. Included among these are Leonardo's own letters and memoranda, letters by contemporaries, and important documents to which he was a signatory. The book begins by looking at Leonardo's general principles of painting. Then follow sections on the optical foundations of art, the human body, the appearance of nature, and the practice of painting, including instructions for the artist and evocative accounts of subject matter.--From publisher description.

ISBN:

0300045425
9780300045420
0300045093 (pbk.)
9780300045093 (pbk.)

Subject:

Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519 Aesthetics.
Painting Early works to 1800.
Peinture Ouvrages avant 1800.
Painting
Schilderkunst.
Theorieën.
Artists Italy 15th century.
Artists Italy 16th century.
Paintings
Italy

Form/genre:

Early works

Added entries:

Kemp, Martin, editor, selector, translator.
Walker, Margaret, selector, translator.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 45491
Call No.: ID:89-B4820
Status: Available