Meadows, Grasses and the Shadows of Landscape
The beautiful greens of sunlit meadows, blue in shadow, and shading trees and mountains in a picture
A page of the Treatise on Painting extending the study of light from trees to grass and whole landscapes. Chapters marked a and b ([902], [903]) explain that at sunrise southern and northern plants carry nearly equal light and shade, while the greens of eastern meadows glow beautifully by transparency and western meadows do not. Chapter [904], marked c, distinguishes grass blades lit against a shadowy ground from blades darkened against a bright one, and [905] states that the shadow of greenery, like every shadow, always partakes of blue, more so the farther it lies from the eye. A closing chapter ([906], marked e) begins the rule for shading the trees and mountains of painted landscapes according to the direction of the light, breaking off at the foot of the page.
On this page
Meadows and grasses at sunrise [902, 903, 904]
At sunrise the greens of eastern meadows and small plants are most beautiful because they are transparent to the sun, while western meadows are not, and southern and northern grasses are of middling beauty. Among grasses in the shade of other plants, blades on the near side of a shadow show lit against a dark ground, while shaded blades show dark against the bright ground beyond the shadow.
The shadow of greenery partakes of blue [905]
The shadow of greenery, like the shadow of every other thing, always partakes of blue, and it takes on the more of it the farther the shadow lies from the eye, and the less the nearer it is.
Shading trees and mountains in a painted landscape [906]
Leonardo begins the rule that the trees and mountains of painted landscapes must show their shadows and their lit parts consistently with respect to the direction of the light. The passage marked e breaks off at the foot of the page and continues on the next folio.