Complaints against the German mirror-makers at the Belvedere
Leonardo records a servant's idleness and how rivals hindered his anatomy work
In these autobiographical notes Leonardo complains of an assistant who idled, ate for hours and went shooting birds among the ruins, neglected the workshop, and pressed for his wages at each month's start. He accuses another man of disparaging his anatomy work 'with the pope' and at the hospital, and of filling the Belvedere with mirror-makers' shops, so that nothing secret could be done there. A closing note records that eight ducats a month had been promised from the day the man set out. Besides the prose, the torn sheet carries an untranscribed geometric figure of a circle enclosing a curvilinear four-lobed figure and a tiny mechanical sketch at the right edge.
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An idle assistant who shot birds and neglected the shop
Leonardo describes keeping the man to eat with him, only to have him spend two or three hours at table and the rest of the day shooting birds with a fowling-piece among the ancient ruins. When reproved, the man claimed he was working for the wardrobe, cleaning armour and guns, and was most eager only when it came to collecting his money at the month's start.
Rivals hinder the anatomy and fill the Belvedere with mirror shops
He complains that another man hindered his anatomy 'with the pope' by disparaging it, and likewise at the hospital, and filled the whole Belvedere and master Giorgio's room with mirror-makers' shops. Because one room opened into another, nothing secret could be done, and eight ducats a month had reportedly been promised to the man.
Circle enclosing a curvilinear four-lobed figure
Upper on the sheet, to the left of the writing, is a compass-drawn circle enclosing a curvilinear four-lobed figure of the kind used in the folio's area studies. It is not covered by the transcription.
Small mechanical sketch at the right edge
A tiny sketch of a mechanical component is drawn at the torn right edge of the sheet. It is not part of the transcription and cannot be securely identified at this scale.