Geometric Doodles, Knots, and a Latin Scrawl
Faint polygons, interlace designs and a pen-trial parody of a Gospel and a notarial formula
A lightly worked sheet crowded with faint geometric doodles — polygons, circles, a funnel-shaped hollow form — together with several interlaced knot and woven-band designs. The only substantial writing, set upside-down, is a scrap of Latin: a parody of the Gospel opening ('In the beginning was Stroci'), the notarial formula 'In the name of the Lord, in the year from the nativity', and the invented word-forms 'interpretatura' and 'intropicatura', all apparently pen-trials. Much of the sheet's faint drawing is not transcribed.
On this page
Scattered studies of polygons, circles and a funnel form
Across the sheet are faintly drawn polygons, hexagons, inscribed squares and circles, and a three-dimensional funnel or vortex-shaped hollow near the upper right. The figures are cursory and exploratory rather than finished constructions.
Interlaced knot and woven-band designs
Several interlace patterns appear in the lower and central areas of the sheet, including a tight woven-band knot within a square frame. Such designs belong to Leonardo's repertoire of decorative knotwork.
Latin formulae and invented word-forms (pen-trials)
The upside-down text plays on Latin: a parody of the Gospel of John ('In principio erat Stroci'), the standard dating formula 'In nomine Domini anno a nativitate', and the coined forms 'interpretatura' and 'intropicatura'. These read as pen-trials rather than a continuous statement.