102 METHOD FOR LEARNING

where the study of the model should be placed, to which it is necessary to join that of contrast and balance, which together compose the attitudes.

On the understanding of chiaroscuro.

When posing a model, one is obliged to seek a posture that, in its contrast, is natural and shows beautiful parts; it is also necessary to give it relief and roundness. However, since the relief of a particular object is not enough in the assembly of several figures, and it is necessary for the satisfaction of the eyes and for the effect of the entire whole that there is an understanding of light and shadow, which is called chiaroscuro, one cannot dispense with acquiring knowledge of it.

This understanding demands particular study, and one must pay even more attention since chiaroscuro is one of the principal foundations of Painting, whose effect attracts the Viewer, supports the composition of the tableau, and without which, all the care taken for particular objects would be wasted effort.

The science of chiaroscuro can only be learned through very thoughtful attention to the effect of light and shadows in nature; for this effect, one must compare the lights and shadows in nature with each other.

One must begin to draw the natural, as it is found, before attempting to correct it with the help of the Antique, always assuming one has prepared for the study of the model by that of the bust or Antique; but when delineating from nature, one must in some way forget it to focus only on exactly copying what one sees; finally, knowing nature well, return to the Antique, never to forget it.

Translation Notes: "Clair obscur" refers to "chiaroscuro," a technique used in painting that involves the treatment of light and shade.