A mechanical 'bird of the comedy' and framing sketches
The verso of the narrow strip: a small automaton bird above braced timber structures
This narrow strip, the verso of the mounted side-sheet, is drawn mainly in soft chalk and ink. At the top a small mechanical bird is labelled 'bird of the comedy', a theatrical device or automaton. Below it run braced timber frameworks with diagonal struts and a suspended pyramidal element, apparently a rig or scaffold, accompanied by fragmentary and partly illegible notes.
On this page
'Bird of the comedy'
A small winged mechanism at the head of the strip is labelled simply as the bird of the comedy, a theatrical automaton or stage device. It sits above the framing sketches that fill the rest of the sheet.
Braced timber framing and a suspended element
Below the bird are several braced timber structures with diagonal struts and a hanging pyramidal form, perhaps a rig or support connected with the stage device. Fragmentary marginal notes run alongside them.