Compass rosettes and lunes, with a record of the king's salary
Star-and-petal circle constructions, a hexagon, quadrature figures; salary note 1508-1509
The sheet is filled with compass geometry: two large rosettes of overlapping petals and points inscribed in circles, a big hexagon, and swarms of small lens- and star-shaped curvilinear figures of the kind Leonardo used in attempts to square the circle. The one passage transcribed here, written with the sheet inverted, is a personal reckoning — a record of the money Leonardo received from the king as his salary between July 1508 and April 1509: sums of 100, 100, 70, 50 and 20 scudi and 200 francs at 48 soldi each. The Ambrosiana catalogue also tags the leaf with a needle-sharpening machine. Much of the geometry carries its own explanatory text that the bundle does not transcribe.
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Rosette and star constructions inscribed in circles
Two large compass rosettes dominate the upper sheet: one a six-petal flower of overlapping arcs, the other an eight-pointed star woven within its circle. A large hexagon is drawn at the left. They are pure compass-and-straightedge constructions.
Lunes and curvilinear figures
The centre and lower half swarm with small figures bounded by circular arcs — lens-shaped lunes, crescents and star forms with curved sides. They are the curvilinear pieces Leonardo manipulated in his studies of squaring the circle.
Record of salary paid by the king, 1508-1509
Written with the sheet inverted, a memorandum records the money Leonardo received from the king for his salary from July 1508 until the coming April 1509: first 100 scudi, then 100, then 70, then 50, then 20, and then 200 francs at 48 soldi each.