This work is the principal repository of da Vinci's practical thoughts on the technique of drawing and painting. It begins with precise instructions on drawing the human body and then moves on to techniques of rendering motion. Includes 48 anatomical drawings by Nicholas Poussin and geometrical and architectural designs by Leon Battista Alberti. Unabridged republication of the John Francis Rigaud translation, as published by George Bell and Sons, London, 1877.
Leonardo on Art and the Artist by Leonardo da Vinci Systematic grouped passages of Leonardo's writings concerning painting, focusing on problems of interpretation. More than an anthology, it offers a reconstruction of the underlying meaning of Leonardo's words. Introductions, notes, bibliography, reference materials. Over 125 black-and-white illustrations.
Vasari on Technique by Giorgio Vasari Sixteenth-century painter reveals technical secrets: gilding, stained glass, casting, painter's materials, much more. Most detailed, valuable sourcebook of Renaissance methods. 29 illustrations.
Theory of Colours by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Charles L. Eastlake The author of Faust provides a unique perspective on the nature of color, compensating for his scientific inaccuracy with inimitable prose and stimulating ideas.
Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters by Sir Charles Lock Eastlake Greek and Roman art methods, medieval techniques, tempera painting, van Eyck's revolutionary use of oil paints, Flemish methods of preparing colors, methods of 18th-century British artists, and much more.
The Craftsman’s Handbook by Cennino Cennini Fifteenth-century handbook, written by a working artist of the day, reveals techniques of the masters in drawing, oil painting, frescoes, panel painting, gilding, casting, more. Direct link to artists of Middle Ages.