4010040A Treatise on Painting — Of proper Back-groundsJohn Francis RigaudLeonardo da Vinci
Chap. CC.—Of proper Back-grounds.
It is of the greatest importance to consider well the nature of back-grounds, upon which any opake body is to be placed. In order to detach it properly, you should place the light part of such opake body against the dark part of the back-ground, and the dark parts on a light ground[1]; as in the cut[2].
↑This cannot be taken as an absolute rule; it must be left in a great measure to the judgment of the painter. For much graceful softness and grandeur is acquired, sometimes, by blending the lights of the figures with the light part of the ground; and so of the shadows; as Leonardo himself has observed in chapters cxciv.cxcv. and Sir Joshua Reynolds has often put in practice with success.
