The excellence of the following Treatise is so well known to
all in any tolerable degree conversant with the Art of Painting,
that it would be almost superfluous to say any thing respecting it,
were it not that it here appears under the form of a new
translation, of which some account may be expected.
Of the original Work, which is in reality a selection from
the voluminous manuscript collections of the Author, both in folio
and quarto, of all such passages as related to Painting, no edition
appeared in print till 1651, though its Author died so long before
as the year 1519; and it is owing to the circumstance of a
manuscript copy of these extracts in the original Italian, having
fallen into the hands of Raphael du Fresne; that in the former of
these years it was published at Paris in a thin folio volume in
that language, accompanied with a set of cuts from the drawings of
Nicolo Poussin, and Alberti; the former having designed the human
figures, the latter the geometrical and other representations. This
precaution was probably necessary, the sketches in the Author’s own
collections being so very slight as not to be fit for publication
without further assistance. Poussin’s drawings were mere outlines,
and the shadows and back-grounds behind the figures were added by
Errard, after the drawings had been made, and, as Poussin himself
says, without his knowledge.
In the same year, and size, and printed at the same place, a
translation of the original work into French was given to the world
by Monsieur de Chambray (well known, under his family name of
Freart, as the author of an excellent Parallel of ancient and
modern Architecture, in French, which Mr. Evelyn translated into
English). The style of this translation by Mons. de Chambray, being
thought, some years after, too antiquated, some one was employed to
revise and modernise it; and in 1716 a new edition of it, thus
polished, came out, of which it may be truly said, as is in general
the case on such occasions, that whatever the supposed advantage
obtained in purity and refinement of language might be, it was more
than counterbalanced by the want of the more valuable qualities of
accuracy, and fidelity to the original, from which, by these
variations, it became further removed.
The first translation of this Treatise into English, appeared
in the year 1721. It does not declare by whom it was made; but
though it professes to have been done from the original Italian, it
is evident, upon a comparison, that more use was made of the
revised edition of the French translation. Indifferent, however, as
it is, it had become so scarce, and risen to a price so
extravagant, that, to supply the demand, it was found necessary, in
the year 1796, to reprint it as it stood, with all its errors on
its head, no opportunity then offering of procuring a fresh
translation.
This last impression, however, being now also disposed of,
and a new one again called for, the present Translator was induced
to step forward, and undertake the office of fresh translating it,
on finding, by comparing the former versions both in French and
English with the original, many passages which he thought might at
once be more concisely and more faithfully rendered. His object,
therefore, has been to attain these ends, and as rules and precepts
like the present allow but little room for the decorations of
style, he has been more solicitous for fidelity, perspicuity, and
precision, than for smooth sentences, and well-turned
periods.
Nor was this the only advantage which it was found the
present opportunity would afford; for the original work consisting
in fact of a number of entries made at different times, without any
regard to their subjects, or attention to method, might rather in
that state be considered as a chaos of intelligence, than a
well-digested treatise. It has now, therefore, for the first time,
been attempted to place each chapter under the proper head or
branch of the art to which it belongs; and by so doing, to bring
together those which (though related and nearly connected in
substance) stood, according to the original arrangement, at such a
distance from each other as to make it troublesome to find them
even by the assistance of an index; and difficult, when found, to
compare them together.
The consequence of this plan, it must be confessed, has been,
that in a few instances the same precept has been found in
substance repeated; but this is so far from being an objection,
that it evidently proves the precepts were not the hasty opinions
of the moment, but settled and fixed principles in the mind of the
Author, and that he was consistent in the expression of his
sentiments. But if this mode of arrangement has in the present case
disclosed what might have escaped observation, it has also been
productive of more material advantages; for, besides facilitating
the finding of any particular passage (an object in itself of no
small importance), it clearly shews the work to be a much more
complete system than those best acquainted with it, had before any
idea of, and that many of the references in it apparently to other
writings of the same Author, relate in fact only to the present,
the chapters referred to having been found in it. These are now
pointed out in the notes, and where any obscurity has occurred in
the text, the reader will find some assistance at least attempted
by the insertion of a note to solve the difficulty.
No pains or expense have been spared in preparing the present
work for the press. The cuts have been re-engraven with more
attention to correctness in the drawing, than those which
accompanied the two editions of the former English translation
possessed (even though they had been fresh engraven for the
impression of 1796); and the diagrams are now inserted in their
proper places in the text, instead of being, as before, collected
all together in two plates at the end. Besides this, a new Life of
the Author has been also added by a Friend of the Translator, the
materials for which have been furnished, not from vague reports, or
uncertain conjectures, but from memoranda of the Author himself,
not before used.
Fortunately for this undertaking, the manuscript collections
of Leonardo da Vinci, which have lately passed from Italy into
France, have, since their removal thither, been carefully
inspected, and an abstract of their contents published in a quarto
pamphlet, printed at Paris in 1797, and intitled, “Essai sur les
Ouvrages physico-mathematiques de Leonard de Vinci;” by J. B.
Venturi, Professor of Natural Philosophy at Modena; a Member of the
Institute of Bologna, &c. From this pamphlet a great deal of
original intelligence respecting the Author has been obtained,
which, derived as it is from his own information, could not
possibly be founded on better evidence.
To this Life we shall refer the reader for a further account
of the origin and history of the present Treatise, conceiving we
have already effected our purpose, by here giving him a sufficient
idea of what he is to expect from the ensuing pages.