A Treatise on Painting/Chapter 253

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A Treatise on Painting
by Leonardo da Vinci, translated by John Francis Rigaud
Which of the Colours will produce the darkest Shade
4013220A Treatise on Painting — Which of the Colours will produce the darkest ShadeJohn Francis RigaudLeonardo da Vinci

Chap. CCLIII.Which of the Colours will produce the darkest Shade.

That shade will be the darkest which is produced by the whitest surface; this also will have a greater propensity to variety than any other surface; because white is not properly a colour, but a receiver of colours, and its surface will participate strongly of the colour of surrounding objects, but principally of black or any other dark colour, which being the most opposite to its nature, produces the most sensible difference between the shadows and the lights.