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Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Quotes

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Famous Leonardo da Vinci Quotes

“Now do you not see that the eye embraces the beauty of the whole world? It counsels and corrects all the arts of mankind... it is the prince of mathematics, and the sciences founded on it are absolutely certain. It has measured the distances and sizes of the stars it has discovered the elements and their location... it has given birth to architecture and to perspective and to the divine art of painting.”

WorldArtWholeEyeCertainGivenStarsNatureMankindDivinePaintingPerspectiveBirthTravelElementsMathematicsEmbraceDistanceSizeArchitectureWhole WorldLocation
Book:Notebooks
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“Very great charm of shadow and light is to be found in the faces of those who sit in the doors of dark houses. The eye of the spectator sees that part of the face which is in shadow lost in the darkness of the house, and that part of the face which is lit draws its brilliancy from the splendour of the sky. From this intensification of light and shade the face gains greatly in relief and beauty by showing the subtlest shadows in the light part and the subtlest lights in the dark part.”

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Book:Notebooks
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“When the sun is covered by clouds, objects are less conspicuous, because there is little difference between the light and shade of the trees and the buildings being illuminated by the brightness of the atmosphere which surrounds the objects in such a way that the shadows are few, and these few fade away so that their outline is lost in haze.”

WayLittlesLightLostNatureDifferencesSunTreeObjectsBuildingTravelShadowCloudsAtmosphereCoveredSurroundShadeFadesOutlinesBrightnessFade AwayHaze
Book:The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
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“To speak of this subject you must... explain the nature of the resistance of the air, in the second the anatomy of the bird and its wings, in the third the method of working the wings in their various movements, in the fourth the power of the wings and the tail when the wings are not being moved and when the wind is favourable to serve as guide in various movements.”

SpeakNatureAirSubjectsMovementWindTravelBirdThirdsMethodMovedWingsVariousGuidesResistanceFourthTailsAnatomy
Book:The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
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“You should look at certain walls stained with damp, or at stones of uneven color. If you have to invent some backgrounds you will be able to see in these the likeness of divine landscapes, adorned with mountains, ruins, rocks, woods, great plains, hills and valleys in great variety; and expressions of faces and clothes and an infinity of things which you will be able to reduce to their complete and proper forms. In such walls the same thing happens as in the sound of bells, in whose stroke you may find every named word which you can imagine.”

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Author:Leonardo da Vinci
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“As regards this vice, we read that the peacock is more guilty of it than any other animal. For it is always contemplating the beauty of its tail, which it spreads in the form of a wheel, and by its cries attracts to itself the gaze of the creatures that surround it. And this is the last vice to be conquered.”

LastsFormAnimalCryCreaturesRegardVicesSpreadGuiltyVanityWheelsSurroundContemplatingTailsPeacock
Book:Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci: Complete & Illustrated
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