of
that painting, but to the goodness of such devout person; women will like
it, especially very old ones, or very young ones. It will please likewise
friars and nuns, and also some noble persons who have no ear for true
harmony. They paint in Flanders, only to deceive the external eye, things
that gladden you and of which you cannot speak ill, and saints and
prophets. Their painting is of stuffs, bricks and mortar, the grass of the
fields, the shadows of trees, and bridges and rivers, which they call
landscapes, and little figures here and there; and all this, although it
may appear good to some eyes, is in truth done without reasonableness or
art, without symmetry or proportion, without care in selecting or
rejecting, and finally without any substance or verve, and in spite of all
this, painting in some other parts is worse than it is in Flanders.
Neither do I speak so badly of Flemish painting because it is all bad, but
because it tries to do so many things at once (each of which alone would
suffice for a great work) so that it does not do anything really well.

"Only works which are done in Italy can be called true painting, and
therefore we call good painting Italian, for if it were done so well in
another country, we should give it the name of that country or province.
As for the good painting of this country, there is nothing more noble or
devout, for with wise persons nothing causes devotion to be remembered, or
to arise, more than the difficulty of the perfection which unites itself
with and joins God; because good painting is nothing else but a copy of
the perfections of God and a reminder of His painting. Finally, good
painting is a music and a melody which intellect only can appreciate, and
with great difficulty. This painting is so rare that few are capable of
doing or attaining to it. And I further say (which whoever notes it will
consider important) that of all the climates or countries lighted by the
sun and the moon, in no other can one paint well but in the kingdom of
Italy; and it is a thing which is nearly impossible to do well except
here, even though there were more talented men in the other provinces, if
there could be such, and this for reasons which we will give you. Take a
great man from another kingdom, and tell him to paint whatever he likes
and can do best, and let him do it; and take a bad Italian apprentice and
order him to make a drawing, or to paint whatever you like, and let him do
it; y