Perspective: equal objects diminish with distance
The visual pyramid with four posts a, b, c, d, plus a maxim on the captain
A red-chalk diagram shows the 'visual pyramid' converging on the eye at the right, with four upright objects labelled a, b, c, d set at equal intervals along the receding lines. The accompanying note states that among things of equal size the more distant one appears of smaller figure. A separate aside offers the example of a captain who wins not by his own hand but through the counsel by which his soldiers prevail, and who still deserves the pay.
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Equal magnitudes appear smaller when farther off
Four equal objects, marked a, b, c and d, stand within a cone of lines meeting at the eye. Leonardo notes that among things of equal size the one farthest from the eye will show as a smaller figure, the basic law of linear perspective.
The captain who wins through counsel
An aside offers the example of a captain who does not win by his own hand but through the soldiers who prevail by his counsel, and who nonetheless earns his pay. It reads as a moral analogy jotted among the perspective notes.