A Treatise on Painting
by Leonardo da Vinci, translated by John Francis Rigaud
How to detach and bring forward Figures out of their Back-ground
4010038A Treatise on Painting — How to detach and bring forward Figures out of their Back-groundJohn Francis RigaudLeonardo da Vinci

Chap. CXCIX.How to detach and bring forward Figures out of their Back-ground.

If your figure be dark, place it on a light ground; if it be light, upon a dark ground; and if it be partly light and partly dark, as is generally the case, contrive that the dark part of the figure be upon the light part of the ground, and the light side of it against the dark[1].