Studies of Polearms with a Cavalry Combat Above
An array of spears, halberds and maces, with mounted fighters and mirror-script notes
The lower two-thirds of the sheet are filled with a dense array of hand weapons drawn in pen and ink, laid out in rough rows across the page. At the top, mounted men clash in a swirling combat of rearing horses and lunging riders. Between the two zones stand several lines of Leonardo's mirror-script, which are not transcribed in this bundle, so further untranscribed text is present on the sheet. The page reads as a working repertory of arms alongside a violent battle sketch.
On this page
Array of polearms and hand weapons
Rows of long-shafted weapons stretch across the lower part of the sheet, including spears, halberds, pikes and hooked blades of varied heads. Among them are spiked maces and a star-shaped morning-star, each drawn in outline. The collection reads as a systematic study of the forms of edged and bladed arms.
Clashing mounted fighters
Across the top of the sheet horsemen charge and collide, their mounts rearing and twisting in the melee. Riders lean forward with raised weapons in a tangle of legs and bodies. The horses are studied for their violent movement within the fray.