THAT A PAINTER IS NOT ADMIRABLE UNLESS HE IS UNIVERSAL

"Come il pittore non è laudable se quello non è universale." - Leonardo da Vinci

The quote above is translated in English as "that a painter is not admirable unless he is universal," ("画家は万能でなければ賞賛に値しない" - Japanese) and appears in Leonardo's so called, "notebook" volume one (compiled by Jean Paul Richter). The notebooks are available in many forms including the 2 volume set by Dover Publications.

After the initial encounter of Leonardo's life on TV in 1972, before you know it, I was at the school library reading the biography of this great master. It was very thick book, but I was devouring the content. Then, I was buying up the books on Leonardo and other artists of the Italian Renaissance. I was still 10 - 11 years old, so I could not read some of the kanji characters, but I cherished them nevertheless. I still own all of the art/ art history books I have bought (or given as the gift after begging...) I still use them as the references. 
Then, soon after, I came across with the above quote. I felt as though I was struck by a lightening! Even for the mind of a 5th grader, the words invoked the sense of wonder and the responsibility. "What does he mean by " being universal?"
I immediately sensed that in order to paint something, one needs to know, not only that something in question, but all the possible relationship that something has in the world / universe. (By the age of 17, I have added another dimension to the understanding of this word, universal.  I have equated the Delphic saying, " γνῶθι σεαυτόν (Know Thyself!)" to the meaning of being universal: To know myself (microcosmos) fully is to know the universe (macrocosmos.)