y, next, that the true difficulties lie rather in the mind than
in the body, wherefore those things that from their nature call for more
study and knowledge are more noble and excellent than those that avail
themselves rather of strength of body; and they declare that since the
painters rely more on the worth of the mind than the others, this
highest honour belongs to painting. For the sculptors the compasses and
squares suffice to discover and apply all the proportions and
measurements whereof they have need; for the painters there is
necessary, besides the knowledge how to make good use of the aforesaid
instruments, an accurate understanding of perspective, for the reason
that they have to provide a thousand other things beyond landscapes and
buildings, not to mention that they must have greater judgment by reason
of the quantity of the figures in one scene, wherein more errors can
come than in a single statue. For the sculptor it is enough to be
acquainted with the true forms and features of solid and tangible
bodies, subordinate on every side to the touch, and moreover of those
only that have something to support them. For the painter it is
necessary to know the forms not only of all the bodies supported and not
supported, but also of all those transparent and intangible; and besides
this they must know the colours that are suitable for the said bodies,
whereof the multitude and the variety, so absolute and admitting of such
infinite extension, are demonstrated better by the flowers, the fruits,
and the minerals than by anything else; and this knowledge is supremely
difficult to acquire and to maintain, by reason of their infinite
variety. They say, moreover, that whereas sculpture, through the
stubbornness and the imperfection of the material, does not represent
the emotions of the soul save with motion, which does not, however, find
much scope therein, and with the mere shape of the limbs and not even of
all these; the painters demonstrate them with all the forms of motion,
which are infinite, with the shape of the limbs, however subtle they may
be, and even with breath itself and the spiritual essence of sight; and
that, for greater perfection in demonstrating not only the passions and
emotions of the soul but also the events of the future, as living men
do, they must have, besides long practice in the art, a complete
understanding of physiognomy, whereof that part suffices for the
sculptor which deals with the qua