When painting the faces of young persons ... use the yolk of the egg of a city hen, because they have lighter yolks than those of country hens.

- Cennino Cennini

Take note that, before going any farther, I will give you the exact proportion of a man. Those of a woman I will disregard, for she does not have any…

- Cennino Cennini

If you imitate the forms of a single artist through constant practice, your intelligence would have to be crude indeed for you not to get some nouris…

- Cennino Cennini

The most perfect steersman that you can have, and the best helm, lies in the triumphal gateway of copying from nature. And this outdoes all other mod…

- Cennino Cennini

Now then, you of noble mind, who love this profession, come at once to art and accept these precepts: enthusiasm , reverence, obedience, and persever…

- Cennino Cennini

When you have practiced drawing for a while... take pains and pleasure in constantly copying the best works that you can find done by the hand of gre…

- Cennino Cennini

If thou shouldst paint mountains in a good style and to look natural, take some large stones full of cracks and copy them.

- Cennino Cennini

If you follow the course of one man through constant practice, your intelligence would have to be crude indeed for you not to get some nourishment fr…

- Cennino Cennini

Mystery is the art of eliciting unseen things hidden in the shadow of natural ones... and serving to demonstrate as real the things that are not.

- Cennino Cennini