To Painting

Each of the poems in this book is inspired by one of three different elements of painting: the painter, the colors, or the instruments used in creating the painting. The poems on colors take the form of numbered lists, each item of which names either a use to which a certain painter has put the particular color, a specific shade taken by the color in painting or in nature, or an association the poet has with the color.

Sometimes the items are written in Alberti's voice, but just as often it is the color addressing the reader, sketching its own self-portrait. The poems dedicated to the various tools a painter uses take the form of traditional sonnets. Each sonnet begins with the words "To you" and is written as a sort of extended toast to instruments and concepts like the paintbrush, the palette, proportion, and perspective.

The third group of poems, those dedicated to painters, is dramatically varied. Almost every poem takes a different form, as Alberti imitates through his words the style of the painter he is addressing. "Giotto," for example, is written as a medieval lauda, while "Picasso" - a tribute to Alberti's longtime friend and the painter to whom he dedicates this book - is freeform, with words spaced over the page in an unconventional manner.

In this bilingual edition, the poems in their original Spanish are presented alongside the English translations.