Distant Objects, Aerial Darkening, and Colour in Shadow
Why hilltops look darker, and how white, black, green and blue behave in shade
This page of Book Five turns to aerial perspective and colour. Near, minute objects seen from a long distance lose their distinct shapes and merge into a single mixed tint dominated by the colour of the majority. At an equal distance, an object seen higher up looks darker because the air thins with height and so veils the object less, which is why hilltops standing against mountain slopes appear darker at their summits than at their bases. A final chapter analyses how colours lose or gain their natural hue in shadow: white loses its colour first, black deepens in shadow and pales in light, while green and blue intensify in shadow. The page carries a running head and folio number.
On this page
Distant small objects merge into one dominant colour
When objects near one another and minute are seen at a long distance, so that knowledge of their shapes is lost, a mixture of their images results. This mixture takes on more of the colour with which the greater number of those objects is clothed.
Why hilltops appear darker than their bases
At an equal distance, an object seen in a higher position shows itself darker, because the air is thinner the higher it rises and so veils the object less than its greater thickness lower down. From this it follows that the tops of hills standing against mountain slopes always look darker at their summits than at their bases.
How white, black, green and blue change in shadow
White, seeing neither incident nor reflected light, is the first to lose its own natural colour entirely in its shadow. Black instead deepens its colour in shadow and loses it in its lit parts, the more so as the light is stronger, while green and blue intensify their colour in shadow.