“Represent your figures in such action as may be fitted to express what purpose is in the mind of each; otherwise your art will not be admirable.”
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), IX The Practice of Painting
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Leonardo Da Vinci 363
Italian Renaissance polymath 1452–1519Related quotes
Session 899, Page 225
Dreams, Evolution and Value Fulfillment, Volume One (1986)
“[Design is] an expression of purpose. It may, if it is good enough, later be judged as art.”
In answer of the question: Is Design an expression of art?
Design Q & A with Charles Eames, 1972
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), IX The Practice of Painting
Context: A picture or representation of human figures, ought to be done in such a way as that the spectator may easily recognise, by means of their attitudes, the purpose in their minds. Thus, if you have to represent a man of noble character in the act of speaking, let his gestures be such as naturally accompany good words; and, in the same way, if you wish to depict a man of a brutal nature, give him fierce movements; as with his arms flung out towards the listener, and his head and breast thrust forward beyond his feet, as if following the speaker's hands. Thus it is with a deaf and dumb person who, when he sees two men in conversation — although he is deprived of hearing — can nevertheless understand, from the attitudes and gestures of the speakers, the nature of their discussion.
Anarchy and Alchemy: the Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky by Ben Cobb (2007) p. 115
“The art of representing the human figure in the ancient world begins and ends with ‘frontality’.”
The Social History of Art, Volume I. From Prehistoric Times to the Middle Ages, 1999, Chapter III. Greece and Rome
“Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens.”
1982, quoted in John Cage Visual Art: To Sober and Quiet the Mind, ISBN 1891300164
1980s
