A hoisting machine for the defence of walls
A framed winding device with a large wheel and arc; a second fragment nearly blank
The recto mounts two paper fragments. The upper bears a clear pen drawing of a hoisting or winding machine set in a timber frame, with a large geared wheel below, a winding drum and a broad semicircular arc rising above it; the Codex Atlanticus classification links the sheet to rotating blades for the defence of walls. The lower fragment is faded and blue-primed, with only ghostly traces of design, and is recorded as essentially devoid of writing apart from a single obscure word.
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Framed winding machine with wheel and arc
The upper fragment shows a machine built into a braced timber frame: a large toothed wheel at the base drives a winding drum, above which a wide semicircular arc sweeps up and over, connected by cords or rods. The whole is drawn cleanly in side elevation.
Rotating blades for wall defence
The scholarly classification identifies the device as one of rotating blades (pale rotanti) for the defence of walls, consistent with the swinging arc and winding gear shown. No text describing it is transcribed.