poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master. - Leonardo da Vinci

It was the opinion of Leonardo that the temporary nature of music caused its inferiority to painting. Although durability was in itself no absolute test, — else the work of coppersmiths would be the highest art, — yet in any final scale, permanence could not altogether be disregarded. Music perished in the very act of its creation, while painting preserved the beautiful from the hand of time.

A luminous body when obscured by a dense atmosphere will appear smaller; as may be seen by the moon or sun veiled by fogs.

"There is nothing in all nature without its reason," he wrote. "If you know the reason, you do not need the experience."