The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci Complete


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through a filter. [Footnote: The same remark applies to these  
sections as to No. 618 and 619.]  
6
33.  
OIL.  
Mustard seed pounded with linseed oil.  
6
34.  
... outside the bowl 2 fingers lower than the level of the oil, and  
pass it into the neck of a bottle and let it stand and thus all the  
oil will separate from this milky liquid; it will enter the bottle  
and be as clear as crystal; and grind your colours with this, and  
every coarse or viscid part will remain in the liquid. You must know  
that all the oils that have been created in seads or fruits are  
quite clear by nature, and the yellow colour you see in them only  
comes of your not knowing how to draw it out. Fire or heat by its  
nature has the power to make them acquire colour. See for example  
the exudation or gums of trees which partake of the nature of rosin;  
in a short time they harden because there is more heat in them than  
in oil; and after some time they acquire a certain yellow hue  
tending to black. But oil, not having so much heat does not do so;  
although it hardens to some extent into sediment it becomes finer.  
The change in oil which occurs in painting proceeds from a certain  
453  


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451 452 453 454 455

Quick Jump
1 306 613 919 1225