Oil recipe and an aphorism on liberty and love
A jotted recipe of mustard seed with linseed oil, and a boxed maxim
The page opens with the heading 'Oil,' followed by a short recipe for grinding mustard seed together with linseed oil. Beneath it, enclosed in an oval frame, is an aphorism warning the reader not to uncover something if liberty is dear, 'for my face is the prison of love.' Both are written in Leonardo's mirror hand on an otherwise empty leaf.
On this page
Aphorism: the face as a prison of love
An enclosed maxim tells the reader not to uncover [it] if liberty is dear, since 'my face is the prison of love.' The saying reads as a riddle-like emblematic device set off within an oval frame.
Recipe: mustard seed and linseed oil
Under the heading 'Oil,' a brief note records mustard seed pounded together with linseed oil. It reads as a jotted household or workshop recipe.