Index to Part Seven of the Treatise: On Clouds
Table of contents listing ten chapters on clouds, keyed to pages 275-277
This leaf is the table of contents of the seventh part of Leonardo's Treatise on Painting, headed 'Tavola de la septima parte del libro' and devoted entirely to clouds ('De' nuvoli'). It lists ten numbered chapters (926-935), among them the redness of clouds, their creation, their heaviness and lightness, the shadows of clouds, and clouds seen beneath the moon, with cross-references to pages 275-277. Written in the neat scribal hand of the posthumous compilation made by Francesco Melzi, the page bears no drawings.
On this page
The seventh part of the Treatise, devoted to clouds
This leaf is the index to the seventh part of the book, headed 'Of clouds.' It gathers ten chapters (926-935) on how clouds appear and behave, with page references running from 275 to 277. The clouds are treated as subject matter for the painter's sky.
Colour, shadow and the reddening of clouds
Several entries treat clouds as effects of light and colour: the redness of clouds [927], the shadows of clouds [932], and the wholly clouded air [931]. Others concern their creation [928] and their heaviness and lightness [929]. Such chapters analyse the tones a painter must render in the sky.
Clouds in the sky and beneath the moon
Further chapters cover clouds in general [926, 933, 935], why clouds form within the mist [930], and clouds seen beneath the moon [934]. These entries belong to the treatise's account of the sky above a landscape.