A Treatise On Painting

This classic book contains John Francis Rigaud's translation of Leonardo da Vinci's 'A Treatise on Painting'. A Treatise on Painting is a collection of Leonardo da Vinci's writings entered in his notebooks under the general heading "On Painting". The manuscripts were gathered together by Francesco Melzi sometime before 1542 and first printed in French and Italian as Trattato della pittura by Raffaelo du Fresne in 1651. The main aim of the treatise was to argue that painting was a science. It is not so much a guide to painting, although he has thrown in the odd piece of good advice, but is more a collection of his thoughts and an insight into what was the inspiration behind his paintings. This edition also includes 'A life of Leonardo and an account of his works' by John William Brown.