Bright Light, Dark Shadow, and the Eye Among Bodies
The stronger the light, the darker its shadows; what the eye sees among lit bodies
Leonardo relates the strength of a light to the darkness of the shadows it produces, then examines what the eye sees among lit and shadowed bodies. He states that the brighter the luminous body, the darker the shadows cast by the bodies it illuminates. All shadowy bodies larger than the pupil that come between the eye and the light appear dark, whereas an eye placed between the light and the bodies it illuminates sees those bodies with no shadow at all. Two diagrams trace the rays from a luminous body past several circular bodies to the eye.
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Brighter light, darker shadow
The greater the splendour of a luminous body, the darker the shadows cast by the bodies it lights.
Bodies larger than the pupil between eye and light look dark
All shadowy bodies larger than the pupil, set between the eye and the luminous body, will show themselves of dark quality.
An eye between light and lit bodies sees no shadow
The eye placed between the luminous body and the bodies illuminated by that light will see those bodies without any shadow.