A great wheel, amphitheatre steps, and a fable of the sword
Wheel-driven device in a timber frame, proportioned seating a b c d e f, and a literary dialogue
This composite leaf mounts three fragments. The upper one is a perspective view of stepped seating whose section, lettered a to f, is annotated with the proportions of the risers and the remark that two serve for sitting and two for passage in an amphitheatre. The central fragment shows a large wheel braced in a timber frame with a drum at its base, a device the Ambrosiana lists among rotating-blade engines for the defence of walls. A strip at the foot carries a short fable in which a great sword is mocked for keeping an idle companion bound to it.
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Great wheel in a braced timber frame
The central fragment shows a large spoked wheel set within a braced timber frame, with a drum or barrel at its base and gearing below. The Ambrosiana catalogue lists the sheet among rotating-blade devices for the defence of walls.
Proportioned amphitheatre steps
A section through stepped seating gives the risers ab 2/3, bc 2/3, cd 1/3, df 4/3, noting that two of them serve for sitting and two others for passage for anyone wishing to leave such an amphitheatre. A separate step section is marked 12-12.
Fable of the sword and its idle companion
A short dialogue: one figure sees a great sword beside another and pities it for staying bound to the weapon though its hands are free and it possesses liberty. The other retorts that the matter is none of its business and is old news, and is answered that it knows so little that every common thing seems new to it.