Codex on the Flight of Birds: Composite Plate of Details
Birds in flight, an architectural facade, and a red-chalk leaf study
This plate is a composite that places three details from the Codex on the Flight of Birds side by side. At the left are quick pen sketches of birds in flight, one seen from below; the centre reproduces the pen study of a multi-storey building with a pedimented facade and colonnade above a small column of figures; the right strip shows a red-chalk study of a serrated leaf surrounded by dense mirror-script. Extensive untranscribed mirror-script is visible in the flanking strips, and the bundle provides no transcription for this image.
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Birds in flight
The left strip shows quick pen sketches of birds on the wing, including one seen from below with outspread wings. They belong to the codex's central study of how birds fly.
Pedimented multi-storey building facade
The centre strip reproduces a pen study of a multi-storey building crowned by a triangular pediment and fronted by a colonnade, with a small column of figures set above it. The same facade also appears on the codex's rear inside cover.
Red-chalk study of a serrated leaf
The right strip, filled with mirror-script, encloses a study in red chalk of a broad leaf with a serrated edge and radiating veins. It is a botanical detail set among unrelated notes.