The Motion and Foam of Sea Waves
With a red-chalk profile head, a distant tower and a compass circle
The transcribed notes on this leaf analyse the motion and foam of sea waves: how a wave runs beneath the sea's 'skin,' why the water between breaking waves looks polished, and how foam is left behind in a triangular wake. A large red-chalk profile of an aged man dominates the right half, while a compass-drawn circle and a small pen sketch of a distant tower on a shore appear among the writing. Architectural sketches of harbour blocks and arched buildings show through from the verso. The sheet also bears further writing beyond the wave passage that the bundle does not transcribe.
On this page
How waves travel and leave foam behind
Leonardo argues that a wave travels beneath the 'skin' of the sea, leaving behind all the foam generated in front of it, and that the largest wave moves faster than the small waves that make up the sea's surface. The foam left behind a wave is always triangular, its angle formed by the first foam that fell ahead of the wave's course. Waves, he notes, are generated only where the water's motion strikes submerged hills and rocks and the shore, and a following wave arises where the sea meets a reflected wave.
Red-chalk profile of an aged man
A large profile of an old man's head, facing right, is drawn in red chalk across the right half of the sheet, with prominent brow, nose and chin. It is unrelated to the wave notes and is typical of Leonardo's expressive head studies. (Described from the drawing; not transcribed.)
Compass-drawn circle
A circle struck with a compass, its centre point marked, sits among the notes in the lower-left area of the sheet.
Distant tower on a shore
A small pen sketch of a tower or lighthouse rising near a shoreline appears at the upper left, a study in how distant structures read to the eye. (Described from the drawing; not transcribed.)