Arm and pulley force studies, with a fable of the lily
Red-chalk arms hauling weights over pulleys, the loads marked 100, 100 and 150
Three red-chalk (sanguigna) studies show human arms and half-figures hauling on cords that run over vertical trains of pulleys to raise hanging weights, the loads noted as 100, 100 and 150. The e-Leo captions read the arrangement as a dynamometer, a device for measuring the force a limb can exert. At the foot of the sheet a short fable, in mirror script, tells how a lily set itself on the bank of the Ticino and the current carried the bank away along with the lily.
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Pulley train loaded with weights of 100 and 100
An arm draws a cord over a vertical column of pulleys from which weights hang, the two loads each marked 100. The captions frame this as a dynamometer, an apparatus for gauging the pull a limb can produce.
Second dynamometer study weighted at 150
A lower arrangement of arm, pulley and hanging weight carries the load 150, a heavier trial than the paired 100s above, extending the measurement of muscular force.
Arms and reclining figures gripping the ropes
Several loosely drawn arms and a reclining half-figure grasp the cords, studying the outward pose of a limb straining against a load rather than its internal anatomy.
Fable of the lily on the bank of the Ticino
A brief fable relates that a lily set itself upon the bank of the river Ticino, and the current dragged the bank away together with the lily. It is written in Leonardo's mirror script.