Quemadmodum enim speculum argenteum tenui lamella ductum incertas et sine viribus habet remissiores splendores, quod autem e solida temperatura fuerit factum, recipiens in se firmis viribus politionem fulgentes in aspectu certasque considerantibus imagines reddet, sic tectoria, quae ex tenui sunt ducta, non modo sunt rimosa, sed etiam celeriter evanescunt, quae autem fundata harenationis et marmoris soliditate sunt crassitudine spissa, cum sunt politionibus crebris subacta, non modo sunt nitentia, sed etiam imagines expressas aspicientibus ex eo opere remittunt.
For just as a silvered mirror covered with a thin layer gives back confused and ineffective reflections, while one that is made with a solid layer takes by its firmness a good finish, and reflects images which shine to the view and are clear to the spectator, so stucco which is spread with thin mortar soon cracks and perishes, while that which is based upon solid sand and marble of a suitable thickness, and is worked up by repeated polishing, not only shines but reflects clear images from the wall to the spectator.
final_alignments\Vitruvius_Architecture_Book_7.json