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Library/Paris Manuscript E/42

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Paris Manuscript E — 42

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Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris

Pittura.

Prima. - La popilla dell'occhio diminuisce tanto la sua quantità, quanto cresce il luminoso che in lei s'impreme.

Seconda. - Tanto cresce la popilla dell'occhio, quanto diminuisce la chiarezza del giorno o d'altra luce, che in lui s'impreme.

Terza. - Tanto più intensivamente vede e conosce l'occhio le cose che li stanno per obbietto, quanto la sua popilla più si dilata. E questo proviano mediante li animali notturni, come nelle gatte e altri volatili, come il gufo e simili, li quali1 la popilla fa grandissima variazione da grande a piccola nelle tenebre o nell'alluminato.

Quarta. - L'occhio posto nell'aria alluminata vede tenebre dentro alle finest[r]e delle abitazioni alluminate.

Quinta. - Tutti li colori posti in lochi ombrosi paiano essere d'equale oscurità in fra loro.

Sesta. - Ma tutti li colori posti in lochi luminosi non si varian mai della loro essenzia.

Painting.

First. — The pupil of the eye diminishes its quantity as much as the luminous [object] that imprints itself in it increases.

Second. — The pupil of the eye increases as much as the brightness of the day, or of other light, that imprints itself in it diminishes.

Third. — The eye sees and knows the things set before it the more intensely, the more its pupil dilates. And this we prove by means of nocturnal animals, as in cats and other creatures such as the owl and the like, in which the pupil makes very great variation, from large to small, in the darkness or in the illuminated [air].

Fourth. — The eye set in the illuminated air sees darkness within the windows of illuminated dwellings.

Fifth. — All the colours set in shadowy places appear to be of equal darkness among themselves.

Sixth. — But all the colours set in luminous places never change from their essence.

The Pupil's Dilation and Colours in Light and Shade

Six propositions on how the pupil answers to light, illustrated by nocturnal animals

Optics & Light Painting & Perspective

Under 'Painting', Leonardo sets down six numbered propositions on the pupil and colour. The pupil shrinks as the imprinted light grows and widens as the day's brightness falls; the eye sees more intensely the more the pupil dilates, as shown by nocturnal animals such as cats and owls whose pupils vary greatly between dark and light. The fourth proposition notes that an eye in bright air sees only darkness within the windows of lit dwellings, and the last two turn to colour: all colours in shadowy places look equally dark, while colours in luminous places never depart from their essence. The page is text only, without diagrams.

On this page

How the pupil contracts and dilates with light

The pupil diminishes as the luminous object imprinted on it increases, and grows as the day's brightness falls. The eye sees and knows objects the more intensely the wider its pupil opens, proven by nocturnal animals such as cats and owls, whose pupils vary greatly from large to small between darkness and light. An eye set in bright air sees only darkness within the windows of illuminated dwellings.

Colours in shadow versus colours in light

All colours placed in shadowy places appear to be of equal darkness among themselves. But all colours placed in luminous places never change from their essence.

Reader's Edition — described with AI from the e-Leo transcription.