Wall-scaling devices, a chest lock, and octagonal churches
Siege ladders to reach town walls and towers by night, with domed-church studies
This sheet mixes siege apparatus with architectural studies. Leonardo notes a way of running up to a town's walls and sketches a four-part scaling ladder whose vertical barrier he labels a 'lattice' (graticcio), together with night instruments for scaling towers whose pivots are wrapped in tow so they make no noise; a marginal note describes a short lock for a chest that shuts by pushing and opens with a key. At the left and lower right he draws octagonal, domed centrally-planned churches with their ground plans.
On this page
Running up to a town's walls
A heading at the top announces a 'way of being able to run up to the walls of a town.' It introduces the siege-scaling apparatus that follows on the sheet.
Four-part scaling ladder with a lattice
The scaling ladder is composed of four elements, and its vertical barrier is labelled a 'lattice' (graticcio). The horizontal bars drawn at the upper right are the ladder's parts.
Silenced night instruments for the assault
Leonardo directs that the pivots of each wall-assault and night instrument be wrapped round with tow so that they make no noise. The device is drawn as a long inclined ramp reared against a wall.
Scaling towers rather than walls, by night
A companion instrument is said to be safer for scaling towers than walls, and is meant to be used at night. It appears as an inclined ladder-ramp at the lower centre.
Short push-shut lock for a chest
A marginal note gives a short lock for a chest that closes merely by pushing the lid, while opening requires the key. The mechanism is drawn at the left as a bolt-and-catch.
Octagonal domed churches with plans
At the left an octagonal domed church is drawn in elevation over its eight-sided plan, and a second domed building with a cruciform plan appears at the lower right. Both are centrally-planned studies of the kind that fill this notebook.