“The eye — which sees all objects reversed — retains the images for some time.”

—  Leonardo Da Vinci

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), I Prolegomena and General Introduction to the Book on Painting
Context: The eye — which sees all objects reversed — retains the images for some time. This conclusion is proved by the results; because, the eye having gazed at light retains some impression of it. After looking (at it) there remain in the eye images of intense brightness, that make any less brilliant spot seem dark until the eye has lost the last trace of the impression of the stronger light.

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Leonardo Da Vinci photo
Leonardo Da Vinci 363
Italian Renaissance polymath 1452–1519

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