Table of Contents, Part One: painting, poetry and music
Chapters [18]-[35], the paragone with poetry and music and whether painting is a science
This leaf continues the index of Part One, entries [18] to [35], each with a page reference. It lists the disputes of painter and poet, how painting surpasses all human works, the differences and likenesses between painting and poetry, and the reply of King Mathias to a poet contending against a painter. Further entries treat music as the sister and lesser of painting, whether a science is mechanical or not, why painting is not counted among the sciences, and whether sculpture is a science.
On this page
The paragone of painting and poetry
Entries [18]-[28] set painter against poet: how painting surpasses all human works through subtle speculation, the differences and likeness between painting and poetry, their dispute, and the celebrated reply of King Mathias to a poet who contended against a painter, ending in a conclusion between poet and painter.
Of the eye; degrees of things set before it
The eye returns as a heading of its own ([24]), and entry [31] holds that the painter gives the degrees of things set before the eye as the musician gives the voices set before the ear, making vision the painter's instrument in the comparison of the arts.
Music, sister and lesser of painting
Entries [29]-[32] bring music into the contest: how music must be called the sister and lesser of painting, the painter speaking with the musician, and a conclusion of poet, painter and musician together.
Is painting (or sculpture) a science?
The final entries [33]-[35] ask which science is mechanical and which is not, why painting is not counted among the sciences, and open the question whether sculpture is a science or not, leading into the painting-versus-sculpture comparison that follows.