Mechanical Studies, a Word List, and Three Proverbs
Sheet of gear and wheel sketches; a six-word vocabulary list and maxims in the margins
The sheet is filled with rapid pen sketches of toothed wheels, drums and gear trains, including a boat-shaped hull carrying a wheel-and-gear mechanism and several rotating wheels studied from different angles. In the upper-right corner is a short list of six words, and along the lower margin are three proverbs. The mechanical drawings dominate the page while the words and maxims sit in its margins.
On this page
Gear, wheel, and mill mechanisms
The centre of the sheet shows a boat-shaped hull carrying a wheel-and-gear mechanism, surrounded by studies of toothed wheels, drums and gear trains seen from several viewpoints. The forms suggest wheelwork of the kind used in mills and driven machinery.
Three proverbs
The lower margin carries three maxims: that a possession is blessed when watched by its master's eye, that love conquers all, and that whoever never trusts will never be deceived.
Six-word vocabulary list
The upper-right corner holds a short vertical list of six words — versatile, felony, diversification, adversity, prosperity, constrained — the kind of vocabulary-gathering note Leonardo made while building his word store.