The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci Complete


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The eye cannot judge where an object high up ought to descend.  
1
06.  
PERSPECTIVE.  
If two similar and equal objects are placed one beyond the other at  
a given distance the difference in their size will appear greater in  
proportion as they are nearer to the eye that sees them. And  
conversely there will seem to be less difference in their size in  
proportion as they are remote from the eve.  
This is proved by the proportions of their distances among  
themselves; for, if the first of these two objects were as far from  
the eye, as the 2nd from the first this would be called the second  
proportion: since, if the first is at 1 braccia from the eye and the  
2nd at two braccia, two being twice as much as one, the first object  
will look twice as large as the second. But if you place the first  
at a hundred braccia from you and the second at a hundred and one,  
you will find that the first is only so much larger than the second  
as 100 is less than 101; and the converse is equally true. And  
again, the same thing is proved by the 4th of this book which shows  
that among objects that are equal, there is the same proportion in  
the diminution of the size as in the increase in the distance from  
the eye of the spectator.  
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Page
95 96 97 98 99

Quick Jump
1 306 613 919 1225