Why the Painter Reproduces Himself; the Soul's Judgment
A master's temperament and features reappear in his figures; a precept on choosing the model
Leonardo completes his analysis of why a painter's figures resemble himself: a quick master paints quick figures, a devout one twisted necks, a lazy or ill-proportioned or mad one figures to match. He proposes that the soul which governs each body shapes our judgment and so guides the painter's hand to repeat his own type, which is also why people love and marry those who resemble them, and why children resemble their parents. The page ends with the heading of a new precept warning the painter not to deceive himself in choosing the figure on which he sets the garment.
On this page
The painter's character shows in his figures
A quick master gives his figures quickness, a devout one twisted necks, a worthless one laziness portrayed from life, and a mad one incoherent scenes whose figures gaze aimlessly as if dreaming. Thus each incident in painting follows the painter's own trait.
The governing soul repeats its own body-type
Leonardo judges that the soul ruling each body shapes our judgment and has fashioned the whole figure of man, deciding a long, short or snub nose and fixing his height and form. So powerful is this judgment that it moves the painter's arm to repeat himself, and it loves whoever resembles the body it composed, which is why many marry their likeness and children resemble their parents.
Precept on choosing the figure for drapery (chap. 109)
A new precept warns the painter not to deceive himself in choosing the figure on which he sets the garment. He must build his figure on the rule of a sound body; the chapter opens here and continues on the next folio.