Blank Verso of Sheet 140 (Recto Mechanisms Showing Through)
Two mounted fragments recorded as bearing no writing or drawing
The e-Leo transcription records both mounted fragments of this verso (140a and 140b) as blank, one only partially visible in the old codex through the window of its support sheet, where a Leonardo leaf had been removed. What appears on the page is the recto's mechanical study showing through the thin paper: a large spoked wheel with a long inclined lever and a smaller drum above, and several wheel-and-frame devices below. The Codex Atlanticus catalogue files the recto's content under natural philosophy, concerning bodies that shift the centre of the world.
On this page
Recto mechanisms visible through the leaf
The blank verso lets the recto's drawings bleed through. An upper fragment shows a large spoked wheel with a long inclined lever and a smaller drum; a lower fragment shows four wheel-and-frame devices. These belong to the recto and are not drawn on this side of the sheet.