Studying in the Dark, and the Painter's Divine Power
Fixing forms in memory before sleep; the painter's mind ranges over all nature, from flowered meadows to storms at sea
Two chapters of painting theory fill this folio. The first advises the draughtsman to review, while lying in the dark of bed, the surface outlines of forms studied earlier, as a way of fixing them in memory. The second, 'The Pleasure of the Painter,' exalts the painter's science as a likeness of the divine mind that freely generates every essence of nature, then launches into a vivid set-piece describing river floods pouring from the mountains and a storm-tossed sea wrestling with the winds. A brief marginal annotation appears in the right margin, not included in the transcription.
On this page
Reviewing studied forms in the dark
Leonardo reports it useful, when lying in the dark in bed, to go over in the imagination the surface lineaments of forms previously studied, or other notable things grasped by subtle speculation. He calls this a praiseworthy and useful act for fixing things in the memory.
The painter's mind as a likeness of the divine
The divinity of the painter's science transforms his mind into a likeness of the divine mind, ranging with free power over the generation of diverse essences of animals, plants, fruits and landscapes. This exalts painting as a near-creative power over all that nature produces.
Floods from the mountains and the storm at sea
The passage describes rivers descending with the fury of great floods, dragging uprooted trees mixed with rocks, roots, earth and foam, and a raging sea that rises in proud waves, imprisons and tears the wind, and vents its fury in turbid foam. The text breaks off mid-sentence, the description continuing onto the next folio.
Untranscribed marginal annotation
A short handwritten note stands in the right margin beside the storm passage. It is not part of the transcription supplied and is not read here; only its presence is recorded.