Machicolations, a ravelin, a fortress plan and compasses
Military sketches over a church plan, with a large draughtsman's compass
The upper sheet carries a perspective sketch of machicolations set on battlements and a row of arched openings, with a ravelin and a diamond-shaped quadrilateral fortress plan below. These military figures are drawn over the faint plan of a sacred building, and a partial plan of a nave with piers appears at the right. Lower down Leonardo draws a large compass and a trestle-mounted instrument, noting that the larger compass's shaft a b should be built of four rules, a finger and a half wide and an arm long.
On this page
Machicolations, battlements and a ravelin
A perspective sketch shows machicolations projecting on battlements, with a row of arched openings beside them, and a separate figure of a ravelin. These are the projecting galleries and outwork of a defensive wall.
Plan of a quadrilateral fortress
A diamond-shaped plan lays out a quadrilateral fortress with projecting corner works. It sits below the machicolation sketches in the middle of the sheet.
Church plan beneath the military sketches
The military figures are superimposed on the faint plan of a sacred building. At the right a partial plan gives a nave lined with piers.
The larger draughtsman's compass
Leonardo details his larger compass, whose shaft a b is to be made of four rules a finger and a half wide and an arm long, its female pieces likewise of rules, so that the shaft is as wide as it is tall. A large open compass and a trestle-mounted instrument are drawn alongside.