Why black garments give a face more relief than white ones
A surface takes the colour of the object facing it, shaping the relief of flesh
A pen diagram at the head of the page shows light entering a chamber onto a sphere, tied to the remark that a body may appear yellow on one side and blue on the other when the eye is in air-lit surroundings. The main chapter argues that black garments make people appear in greater relief than white ones, invoking the rule that the surface of every opaque body partakes of the colour of the object facing it. Parts of a face seen by black objects darken, sharpening the difference from the lit parts; white garments instead tint the shadows with whiteness, flattening the relief so the face's shadow is no true shadow of its flesh. A following chapter begins to name the flesh-toned objects that make shadows match the lights.
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Black garments give a face more relief than white
Black garments make men appear in greater relief than white garments. The parts of a face seen by black objects partake of that black, so their shadows are dark and differ greatly from the lit parts; white garments instead make the face's shadows partake of whiteness, giving little relief because light and dark differ so little.
A surface partakes of the colour of the object facing it
Leonardo grounds the effect in the rule (the 3rd of the 9th) that the surface of every opaque body partakes of the colour of its object. Because a white garment tints the shadow of a face with its whiteness, that shadow is no longer the true shadow of such flesh.
Diagram of light entering a chamber onto a sphere
A small pen sketch at the top of the page shows rays entering a boxed chamber and falling on a sphere within it, illustrating the note that such a body may show yellow on one side and blue on the other when the eye stands in air-lit surroundings.