Profile Head, Names, and a Prophecy of the Goats
A male profile in red chalk, a note of three names, and a riddling prophecy
Pen and red chalk share this leaf. At the upper left a male head is drawn in profile, while a large, unresolved drawing spreads across the lower half. In red chalk Leonardo has jotted three names or notes and, written upside down, one of his prophecies: under the heading 'of the wineskins,' he writes that 'the goats will carry the wine to the cities.'
On this page
Male head in profile
At the upper left a virile male face is drawn in profile in red chalk, brow, nose and lips summarily indicated. It is one of several disparate studies scattered across the leaf.
Prophecy: the goats will carry the wine to the cities
Written upside down and headed 'of the wineskins,' this is one of Leonardo's riddling prophecies. The answer turns on wineskins being made of goat hide, so that goats appear to carry the wine to the cities.
Memorandum of three names
A short red-chalk memorandum records Giuliano Trombetta and Antonio da Ferrara, together with a note of 'oil from Bologna.' The jotting reads as a personal reminder rather than a drawing caption.