For those colours which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground.

The painter who draws by practise and judgment of the eye without the use of reason is like the mirror which reproduces within itself all the objects which are set opposite to it without knowledge of the same.

Nature is so delightful and abundant in its variations that among trees of the same kind there would not be found one which nearly resembles another, and not only the plants as a whole, but among their branches, leaves, and fruit, will not be found one which is precisely like another.

Inequality is the cause of all local movements.

Nature varies the seed according to the variety of the things she desires to produce in the world.

Small rooms or dwellings set the mind in the right path, large ones cause it to go astray.

Make yourself a master of perspective, then acquire perfect knowledge of the proportions of men and other animals.