How the Gaps in Foliage Vanish with Distance
The 'perforations' of trees and how one tree occupies another's (a-e)
In pen, illustrated by a row of nine circles and a diagram of trees labeled a to e, Leonardo studies the traforazione — the perforations, or gaps of lit sky seen through foliage. At a long distance neither the air pierced by the tree nor the tree pierced by air can be told apart, so a confused mixture forms in which the larger quantity dominates; the small lit particles of sky are lost from view before the tree itself, though they are still there. He then shows how a tree is less perforated where a greater mass of another tree stands behind it: a and b keep their gaps, c is half occupied by d, d in part by e, and beyond a point all inner perforation is lost, leaving only the lateral outline.
On this page
Foliage gaps merge into a confused mixture at distance
At a long distance the air within a plant and the plant amid the air no longer show to the eye, for "where the whole is grasped with effort, the parts are known with difficulty." A confused mixture forms, dominated by whichever is the greater quantity; the small lit particles of sky are lost before the tree, though a mixture of air and the tree's shadow still reaches the eye.
One tree occupies another's perforations (a, b, c, d, e)
A tree is less perforated where a greater mass of another tree lies behind it, between it and the air. Tree a keeps its perforation, and b too, having no trees behind; but c is half occupied by tree d, and part of d by tree e, so that a little further on all bodily perforation is lost and only the lateral remains.
The see-through gaps within a tree's foliage
The subject is the tree's own perforations — the openings of lit air scattered through its body of leaves and branches. These particles of air are much smaller than the plant, so at a distance they drop from sight first.