A Treatise on Painting/Chapter 354

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
A Treatise on Painting
by Leonardo da Vinci, translated by John Francis Rigaud
Painters are not to imitate one another
4017095A Treatise on Painting — Painters are not to imitate one anotherJohn Francis RigaudLeonardo da Vinci

Chap. CCCLIV.Painters are not to imitate one another.

One painter ought never to imitate the manner of any other; because in that case he cannot be called the child of Nature, but the grandchild. It is always best to have recourse to Nature, which is replete with such abundance of objects, than to the productions of other masters, who learnt every thing from her.