Table of Contents, Part One: painting versus sculpture
Final index entries [36]-[45] on the comparison of painting and sculpture
This leaf closes the index of Part One with entries [36] to [45], each with a page reference. Every entry weighs painting against sculpture: their difference, the painter and the sculptor, comparisons and equatings of the two arts, and the sculptor's excuse. It argues that sculpture is of lesser genius than painting and lacks many natural parts, and that sculpture is bound to light while painting is not. The lower half of the page is blank.
On this page
The comparison of painting and sculpture
Entries [36]-[43] run through the difference between painting and sculpture, the painter and the sculptor, repeated comparisons and equatings of the two arts, and the sculptor's excuse. These headings gather Leonardo's arguments for the superiority of painting in the paragone.
Sculpture of lesser genius; its bond to light
Entry [38] holds that sculpture is of lesser genius than painting and lacks in it many natural parts, and [44] that sculpture is obliged to light whereas painting is not. The sequence ends ([45]) with a further statement of the difference from painting to sculpture.