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Library/Paris Manuscript G/28

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Paris Manuscript G — 28

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Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris

A sanguigna.

Del lume universale

alluminatore delle piante1.

Pianta entro semicerchio, con:

n b - a - o d - f p c

Quella parte della pianta si dimosterrà vestita d'ombre di minore oscurità, la qual fia più remota dalla terra.

Provasi. a b sia la pianta, a b c sia l'emisperio alluminato. La parte di so[tto] dell'albero vede la terra p c, cioè la parte o, e vede un poco dell'emisperio in c d. Ma la parte più alta nella concavità a è veduta da maggior somma dell'emisperio, cioè b c, e pe[r] questo (e perché non vede la oscurità della terra)2 resta più alluminata. Ma se l'albero è spesso di foglie, come lauro, albatro3, bosso o leccio, allora è variato, perché ancora che a non veda la terra, e' vede la oscurità delle foglie divise da molte ombre. La quale oscurità riverbera in su nelli riversci delle soprapposte foglie, e questi tali alberi han l'ombre tanto più oscure, quanto esse son più vicine al mezzo4 dell'albero.

In red chalk.

On the universal light that illuminates plants.

Plant within a semicircle, with:

n b - a - o d - f p c. That part of the plant which is more remote from the ground will show itself clothed in shadows of lesser darkness. Proof: let a b be the plant, and a b c the illuminated hemisphere. The lower part of the tree sees the earth p c, that is the part o, and sees a little of the hemisphere at c d. But the higher part in the concavity a is seen by a greater sum of the hemisphere, that is b c, and for this reason (and because it does not see the darkness of the earth) it remains more illuminated. But if the tree is dense with leaves, such as laurel, strawberry tree, box or holm oak, then it is otherwise, because although a does not see the earth, it sees the darkness of the leaves divided by many shadows. That darkness reflects upward onto the undersides of the leaves above, and such trees have shadows the darker the nearer they are to the middle of the tree.

How a Tree's Shadows Lighten Away from the Ground

A plant set in an illuminated hemisphere, with laurel, box and holm oak as dense-foliage exceptions

Botany Optics & Light Painting & Perspective

Under the heading on the universal light that illuminates plants, Leonardo argues that the part of a plant farther from the ground wears the lightest shadows. A diagram at the upper right sets a plant within an illuminated hemisphere lettered a, b, c, d, o and p, showing that the high concavity a sees more of the sky and none of the earth's darkness, so it stays brighter. He adds that the rule changes for densely leaved trees such as laurel, strawberry tree, box and holm oak, whose inner leaves cast many shadows. The page is written in mirror script.

On this page

The universal light that illuminates plants

A heading opens the study of the universal, overcast light considered as the illuminator of plants and trees, the frame for the shadow analysis that follows.

Which parts of a tree carry the lightest shadows

The part of the plant farther from the ground shows shadows of lesser darkness. With a b the plant and a b c the illuminated hemisphere, the lower part sees the earth p c and only a little sky at c d, while the high concavity a is seen by a greater sum of the hemisphere b c and does not see the earth's darkness, so it stays brighter. In densely leaved trees such as laurel, strawberry tree, box or holm oak the effect is reversed, their inner shadows growing darker toward the middle of the tree.

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