The greatest work of an artist is the history of a painting.

It is very rarely granted even to Nature herself to produce anything absolutely perfect in every part.

No art, however minor, demands less than total dedication if you want to excel in it.

The greatest work of an artist is the history of a painting.

Painting contains a divine force which not only makes absent men present, as friendship is said to do, but moreover makes the dead seem almost alive.

I will never tire of recommending the custom, practiced by the best architects, of preparing not only drawings and sketches, but also models of wood or any other material. These... enable us to examine... the work as a whole... and, before continuing any further, to estimate the likely trouble and expense.

The picture will have charm when each color is very unlike the one next to it.