The Da Vinci Notebooks at sacred-texts.com
That side of an object in light and shade which is towards the light transmits the images of its details more distinctly and immediately to the eye than the side which is in shadow.
The solar rays reflected on a square mirror will be thrown back to distant objects in a circular form.
Any white and opaque surface will be partially coloured by reflections from surrounding objects.
151:126 281. 282: The title line of these chapters is in the original simply "pro", which may be an abbreviation for either Propositione or Prospettiva--taking Prospettiva of course in its widest sense, as we often find it used in Leonardo's writings. The title "pro" has here been understood to mean Prospettiva, in accordance with the suggestion afforded by page 10b of this same MS., where the first section is headed Prospettiva in full (see No. 94), while the four following sections are headed merely "pro" (see No. 85).