"How painting surpasses all human works by reason of the subtle possibilities which it contains."

"No one should ever imitate the style of another because he will be called a nephew and not a child of nature with regard to art."

"Be eager to lend a patient ear to the opinions of others and think long and hard whether whoever finds fault has reason or not to censure you. And if the answer is yes, correct the fault. If no, give the impression that you have not heard him, or if he is a man whom you respect, explain to him why he is mistaken."

"Learn diligence before speedy execution."

"There is nothing that deceives us more than our own judgement when used to give an opinion on our own works. It is sound in judging the work of our enemies but not that of our friends, for hate and love are two of the most powerfully motivating factors found among living things."

"Shadows which you see with difficulty, and whose boundaries you cannot define ... these you should not represent as finished or sharply defined, for the result would be that your work would seem wooden."

"He who draws ... ought to take his position so that the eye of the figure he is drawing is on a level with his own ... because generally figures or people whom you meet in the streets all have their eyes at the same level as yours, and if you make them higher or lower you will find that your portrait will not resemble them."

"He who despises painting has no love for the philosophy in nature."

"When you are painting you should take a flat mirror and often look at your work within it, and it will then be seen in reverse, and will appear to be by the hand of some other master, and you will be better able to judge of its faults than in any other way."

"O painter skilled in anatomy, beware lest the undue prominence of the bones sinews and muscles cause you to become a wooden painter from the desire to make your nude figures reveal all."

"Although the poet has as wide a choice of subjects as the painter, his creations fail to afford as much satisfaction to mankind as do paintings ... if the poet serves the understanding by way of the ear, the painter does so by the eye, which is the nobler sense."