Trees Seen From Above: Distance, Shadow and a Diagram of Crowns
Why receding tree-tops darken; a pen example of round crowns aligned toward the light
Looking down on an avenue of identical trees, Leonardo explains why the nearer ones appear brighter and the farther ones darker: in the nearest you see the sky-lit upper part, while in the more distant you look more toward their shadowy underside, an effect only reversed by the greater body of intervening air. A pen-and-ink example on the page shows a row of round tree-crowns receding toward a point of light. Short chapters add that the sparse tops of thin-branched trees take no strong shadow, and that the outlines of distant trees become almost imperceptible against their ground.
On this page
Nearer crowns look brighter, farther crowns darker
In a row of equal trees seen from above, the nearest shows its sky-lit upper part and so appears brighter, while the more remote is seen more from below and shows its shadowy parts, appearing darker. Were it not that a greater body of air interposes before the farther tree to lighten that darkness, the perspective of colours would run to the opposite effect.
Diagram: round tree-crowns receding toward the light
A pen-and-ink example figure occupies the centre of the page, showing four rounded tree-crowns set in a row, with light-rays drawn converging from them to a single luminous point at the upper right. It illustrates the preceding argument that identical trees gain darkness with distance.
Sparse tree-tops take no marked shadow
The scattered tops of sparse, thinly branched trees take no sensible shadow, because their branches are slender and bear few thin leaves, and the parts that are not transparent remain illuminated. The extremities of trees in somewhat remote places become almost imperceptible and little varied from their ground.