PBA Galleries

[16], 189, [16] + [3] ad pp. Frontispiece portrait and 35 engraved plates. (8vo) 19.5x12 cm (7¾x4¾"), period calf tooled in blind, raised spine bands, morocco lettering piece. First Edition in English.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Treatise on Painting, originally compiled at the height of the Renaissance in 1480 but not published until the 17th century (France, 1651). It is a thorough examination of painting as a science with a focus on anatomy. Da Vinci's theories on anatomical renderings are presented here along with landscapes and folding tables depicting perspective angles. Illustrated with engravings based upon drawings by the Classical painter Nicholas Poussin. According to Arasse, the "Treatise", which in France went into sixty-two editions in fifty years, caused Da Vinci to be seen as "the precursor of French academic thought on art". Early bookplate and manuscript text on front pastedown; 3 leaves of Da Vinci’s biography inserted at front flyleaf; printed description of a Leonardo painting mounted to rear pastedown.