Browse — The Da Vinci Book of Quotes

"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen."

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."

"The painter has the universe in his mind and hands."

"The good painter has to paint two principal things, man and the intention of his mind."

"The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies every thing placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence."

"A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light."

"The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies everything placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence."

"The natural desire of good men is knowledge."

"The mind of the painter should be like a mirror which always takes the color of the thing that it reflects, and contains as many images as there are things placed before it."

"Painting is the sole means of reproducing all the known works of nature."

"The art of painting embraces and contains within itself all visible things."

"The painter strives and competes with nature."

"Whoever despises painting loves neither philosophy nor nature."

"The painter who has no doubts achieves little."

"The hand that delineates cannot do otherwise than be guided by the mind."

"A painter is not admirable unless he is universal."

"Among all human opinions, that of the painter is most worthy; for he holds converse with nature."

"Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world."

"The object of the painter is to delight, to move, to convince."