Water Courses, a Fountainhead, and Arcs in a Square
Red-chalk studies: a river feeding a lower fountainhead, a cascade, and arcs of a circle in a square.
This red-chalk page mixes water studies with a small geometric figure. At the upper left a square encloses a circular arc, captioned as arcs of a circle in a circumscribed square; at the upper right is a faint cascade-like sketch. Three horizontal channel segments in the lower middle are lettered a b, c d and e f, and the note reasons that if a b is a river from which the fountainhead c d is to draw its water, a lower fountainhead is more advantageous. Further faint red-chalk text is present on the sheet beyond the brief lines transcribed here.
On this page
A fountainhead drawing water from a river
Three channel segments are lettered a b, c d and e f. Leonardo notes that if a b is a river from which the fountainhead c d is to take its waters, a lower fountainhead is the better arrangement. The sentence breaks off, but the comparison of the heights of river and fountainhead is the subject.
Arcs of a circle inside a circumscribed square
At the upper left a square encloses a curved arc, captioned as arcs of a circle in a circumscribed square. The figure sets a circular curve against the straight sides that bound it.