Lifting pump with lead-sealed valves and an optical sighting tube
A suction pump; a seated man sights through a tube; perspective and tiling studies
The sheet is dominated by a tall cylindrical lifting pump whose clack-valves ('animelle') are to be fitted below with lead-plugged pins, worked by a sprung lever arm at the top. At the right a seated man sights through a tube mounted on a stand — 'put your eye to a tube' — an optical apparatus the Ambrosiana index links to the rule that more distant things appear of smaller figure. Along the lower edge run geometric tiling and star-polygon patterns and a fan of voussoirs.
On this page
Suction pump with lead-sealed clack-valves
The large central cylinder is a lifting pump. A note explains the method of fitting the clack-valves ('animelle') underneath with lead-plugged pins; the principal valve is simply labelled 'Animella'. A sprung bow-arm and lever at the top work the plunger.
Sighting through a tube
At the right a man sits at a bench and puts his eye to a tube set on a stand, the instruction reading 'put your eye to a tube.' The apparatus fixes the line of sight toward a distant object.
Distant things appear of smaller figure
The sighting apparatus embodies the perspective principle the sheet is indexed under: that objects further away are seen under a smaller figure. The observer's fixed eye and the framed target set out the diminution of apparent size with distance.
Tiling and star-polygon patterns
Along the lower right are several small geometric studies: tessellated square grids, interlaced star polygons, and a fan of voussoirs suggesting a vault. They explore the regular division of the plane.
