Based on the idea of Comparative Arts: West-East study, following the method of synthesis, this dissertation uses analysis of selected writings and works of Leonardo da Vinci of the Italian Renaissance and Su Shih of the Sung Dynasty of China to discuss the relationship between painting and poetry. The central question is: "Is there a similarity of views between Chinese and Western traditions on the concept of the relationship between painting and poetry?" The further purpose of the dissertation is to determine whether or not this similarity is useful for us as a "bridge" for the understanding of Western and Eastern arts.

This study approaches the analogy from an interdisciplinary standpoint as well as from the view of a comparative study of Western and Eastern arts. It strives to illuminate Western and Eastern painting and poetry, specifically in comparing Italian Renaissance painting and poetry in the sixteenth century with Chinese Sung Dynasty painting and poetry in the eleventh to twelfth centuries. This study also applies the method of art historical analysis as well as aesthetic analysis to the pictorial imagery of Renaissance and Sung poetries, and to the poetic expression of their painting.

The dissertation is divided into three parts. First, the writer proposes to isolate the concept of the relationship between painting and poetry in Chinese art as seen in Su's writing and works, and to investigate the cultural and philosophical elements bearing upon this relationship. Second, the writer isolates a similar concept of the relationship between painting and poetry in Renaissance art as seen in Leonardo's writing and works, and pursues an identical investigation of relevant cultural and philosophical elements. Finally, by bringing the two investigations together for comparison, the writer points out the parallel elements, and in this way discusses the relationship between Western and Eastern arts.

From the discussion, the writer finds that both Su Shih and Leonardo da Vinci stated the common truth of art. Poetry and painting are asthetically unified in the sense that both transcend physical reality to arouse a feeling of something beyond or outside. This common truth of art can transcend the political and cultural boundaries and belong to the universal. By using the concept of Comparative Arts: West-East study, we can easily find the common points between Western and Eastern arts, in this way this kind of comparative arts study can serve as a bridge for the understanding of the relationship between Western and Eastern arts.