Beauty

How painting surpasses all human works by reason of the subtle possibilities which it contains.

What induces you, oh man, to depart from your home in town, to leave parents and friends, and go to the countryside 72 over mountains and valleys, if it is not for the beauty of the world of nature?

To such an extent does nature delight and abound in variety that among her trees there is not one plant to be found which is exactly like another; and not only among the plants, but among the boughs, the leaves and the fruits, you will not find one which is exactly similar to another.

Any color is more distinctly seen when opposed to its contrary: thus, black on white, blear near yellow, green near red, and so on.

It is ordained that to the ambitious, who derive no satisfaction from the gifts of life and the beauty of the world, life shall be a cause of suffering, and they shall possess neither the profit nor the beauty of the world.

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

The art of procreation and the members employed therein are so repulsive, that if it were not for the beauty of the faces and the adornments of the actors and the pent-up impulse, nature would lose the human species.

Of the original phenomena, light is the most enthralling.

What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art.

A beautiful body perishes, but a work of art dies not.

The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow.

Look at light and admire its beauty. Close your eyes, and then look again: what you saw is no longer there; and what you will see later is not yet.

A clever man without wisdom is like a beautiful flower without fragrance.

Who would believe that so small a space could contain the images of all the universe?

The eye is the window of the human body through which it feels its way and enjoys the beauty of the world.

Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live according to its laws.

The smallest feline is a masterpiece.

Beauty perishes in life, but is immortal in art.