Painting contains a divine force which not only makes absent men present, as friendship is said to do, but moreover makes the dead seem almost alive.

Nam habet ea quidem in se uim admodum divinam : non modo quod ut de amicitia dicunt, absentes pictura praesentes esse faciat : ureum etiam defunctos longa post secula uiuentibus exhibeat, ut summa cum artificis admiratione, ac uisentium ulouptate cognoscatur.

Leon Battista Alberti

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of art Painting Art

Author

Leon Battista Alberti

Language

Latin

Time

1435 1430s 15th century

Era

Middle Ages

Occupation

Architect Writer

From

Italy Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Alberti, Leon Battista. De Pictura [On Painting]. c. 1450, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Alberti, Leon Battista. On Painting, translated by John R. Spencer. Yale University Press, 1966, bk. 2.

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A quote by Leon Battista Alberti about power of art: “Painting contains a divine force which not only makes absent…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Art

I have erected a monument more lasting than bronze.

Horace

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More information about this quote
Topic
Immortality through art Artistic legacy Art Poetry

Author

Horace
Source
Odes (Horace)
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Boast
Language
Latin
Time
23 BC 20s BC 1st century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Horace. Carmina [Odes]. 23 BC, bk. 3, no. 30.

Current Citation

Horace. "Odes." The Complete Odes and Epodes, translated by David West. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk, 3, no. 30.

Another quote from Middle Ages

In that part of the book of my memory, before which very little is written, there is a heading that reads "Here begins a new life".

Dante Alighieri

La Vita Nuova

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Read La Vita Nuova Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Love at first sight Being in love

Author

Dante Alighieri
Source
La Vita Nuova
Language
Italian
Time
1294 1290s 13th century
Era
Middle Ages
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Dante. La Vita Nuova [The New Life]. 1294, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Dante. Vita Nuova, translated by Mark Musa. Oxford University, 2008, ch. 1.

Another quote originally in Latin

In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

Erasmus

More information about this quote
Topic
Relativism

Author

Erasmus
Source
Adagia
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
Latin
Time
1536 1530s 16th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Erasmus. Collectanea Adagiorum. Paris: Enguilbert de Marnef, 1500.

Current Citation

Erasmus. The Adages of Erasmus, edited by William Barker, translated by Margaret Mann Phillips. University of Toronto Press, 2001.