The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

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Author: Leonardo da Vinci

500.
THAT A PAINTER IS NOT ADMIRABLE UNLESS HE IS UNIVERSAL.

Some may distinctly assert that those persons are under a delusion who call that painter a good master who can do nothing well but a head or a figure. Certainly this is no great achievement; after studying one single thing for a life-time who would not have attained some perfection in it? But, since we know that painting embraces and includes in itself every object produced by nature or resulting from the fortuitous actions of men, in short, all that the eye can see, he seems to me but a poor master who can only do a figure well. For do you not perceive how many and various actions are performed by men only; how many different animals there are, as well as trees, plants, flowers, with many mountainous regions and plains, springs and rivers, cities with public and private buildings, machines, too, fit for the purposes of men, divers costumes, decorations and arts? And all these things ought to be regarded as of equal importance and value, by the man who can be termed a good painter.

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Chicago: Leonardo da Vinci, "500. That a Painter Is Not Admirable Unless He Is Universal.," The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, trans. Richter, Jean Paul, 1847-1937 in The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), Original Sources, accessed April 18, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LHIAX85524E9V26.

MLA: Vinci, Leonardo da. "500. That a Painter Is Not Admirable Unless He Is Universal." The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, translted by Richter, Jean Paul, 1847-1937, in The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1970, Original Sources. 18 Apr. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LHIAX85524E9V26.

Harvard: Vinci, LD, '500. That a Painter Is Not Admirable Unless He Is Universal.' in The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, trans. . cited in 1970, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, Dover Publications, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 18 April 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LHIAX85524E9V26.