The sun's image in water and the roundness of distant light
Every eye sees the sun's reflection; why a long flame looks round afar, yet the moon's horns do not.
Leonardo argues that the image (simulacrum) of the sun lies whole in every part of the objects where its rays are cut, so that the sun is seen in as many points of the sea and rivers as there are eyes to look. A second note, beside a lit candle, asks why at a long distance a long splendour becomes round, while the horns of the moon do not follow this rule and a nearby light keeps the shape of its point. The sheet carries a perspective triangle and a small candle diagram.
On this page
The sun's image whole in every eye
The image of the sun is entirely present in all the parts of the objects where its rays are cut, and entirely in every particle of those parts. Thus the sun will be seen in as many parts of the sea and rivers as there are eyes to behold it.
Why a distant flame rounds, unlike the moon's horns
Beside a lit candle Leonardo asks why over a long distance a long splendour becomes round between us and it, while the horns of the moon do not observe this rule, and a light close by keeps the demonstration of its point.
