Painting Trees, Wind, and the Onset of Rain
Infinite variety in foliage; swirling dust in wind; light and shadow in falling rain
A fair-copy leaf of the Trattato della pittura, under the running header PARTE, on rendering the natural world. The upper passage urges the painter to observe the infinite variety of trees, since no two plants, branches, or leaves precisely resemble one another. Two short chapters follow: how to paint the wind, with bent branches, overturned leaves, and swirling dust in the turbid air, and the beginning of a rain, which darkens the air with a livid tint and blurs the outlines of distant things. The page is text only, in a legible scribal hand.
On this page
The infinite variety of trees and foliage
Even trees of the same species and equal distance differ in their green, for nature varies to infinity, so that no two plants, branches, leaves, or fruits are exactly alike. In the willow shoots the leaves are larger and finer than on the other branches. The painter is told to take heed and vary his foliage as much as he can.
On painting the wind (Del vento dipinto)
To represent the wind one bends the branches and overturns the leaves toward the direction from which the wind comes. Beyond this, the painter should depict the swirling of fine dust mingled with the turbid air.
The beginning of a rain (Del principio d'una pioggia)
Rain falls through the air and darkens it with a livid tint, catching light from the sun on one side and shadow on the opposite side, as mists do. It steals the sun's splendor from the earth, so that things seen beyond the rain have confused outlines while nearer things remain distinct, and shadowed rain shows things more clearly than illuminated rain.