Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519
Two Designs for Machines: A Maritime Assault Mechanism and a Device for Bending Beams
ca. 1487-1490
11 1/8 x 7 7/8 inches (284 x 201 mm)
Pen and brown ink, over black chalk on paper.
1986.50
Gift of Otto Manley.
Notes
Watermark: none.
The catapult-like machine at the top of the page is for scaling towers while the machine below is designed to turn heavy beams during the construction of scaffolding.
The catapult-like machine at the top of the page is for scaling towers while the machine below is designed to turn heavy beams during the construction of scaffolding.
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed in pen and brown ink by the artist, in mirror writing, above upper design, "pie[na] dj fieno bagniato. / Strume[n]to dj urno / e da mare per i[s]calare una tore dj sopra esselle / fussino due torri va per tale linia chelluna facci scudo . allaltra ma / fa chel mare . sia cho[]tu / tj . i segnj dj tranqujlita"; for the device below, "questi buchi . voliano . essere dj pari alteza . a2. a2. / sotterra / Modo dj torciere vna trave per fare i chavalettj"; on verso, in pen and dark brown ink, by the Paris bookdealer Lefebvre, "Vendu par moi pour la somme de cent francs a Monsieur Picchioni ce dessin autogra/-phe de Leonard de Vinci, provenant de La Collection de M.r[superscript r] Garnier President du tribunal / de la Rochelle, et qui m'a été saisi par ordre de M.r[superscript r] hallon, juge d'instruction, il y a / environ un mois et rendu au bout de quelques jours / Paris ce 11 Juin 1849 Lefebvre / Libraire 9 rue rameau"; in another hand, possibly that of Stefan Zweig, "gut"; along right edge, in pen and brown ink, in a fifteenth century hand, "[...]".
Associated names
Melzi, Francesco, 1491 or 1493-approximately 1570, former owner.
Garnier, Jacques, 1755-1818, former owner.
Lefebvre, former owner.
Picchioni, Luigi, former owner.
Libri, Guillaume, 1803-1869, former owner.
Morrison, Alfred, 1821-1897, former owner.
Fatio, Henry, former owner.
Kra, Simon, former owner.
Zweig, Stefan, 1881-1942, former owner.
Schilling, Edmund, 1888-1974, former owner.
Manley, Otto, -1989, former owner.
Garnier, Jacques, 1755-1818, former owner.
Lefebvre, former owner.
Picchioni, Luigi, former owner.
Libri, Guillaume, 1803-1869, former owner.
Morrison, Alfred, 1821-1897, former owner.
Fatio, Henry, former owner.
Kra, Simon, former owner.
Zweig, Stefan, 1881-1942, former owner.
Schilling, Edmund, 1888-1974, former owner.
Manley, Otto, -1989, former owner.
Bibliography
Rhoda Eitel-Porter and and John Marciari, Italian Renaissance Drawings at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, 2019, no. 46.
Selected references: Morrison 1892, 6:325; Richter 1939, 2: no. 45; Steinitz 1948, 41; Richter 1970, 1: no. 50; De Toni 1975, 6-7; Pedretti 1977, no. 46; Pedretti 1988, 142- 43; Fellows Report 22 1989, 357-58; London 1989, no. 114; Florence 1992, no. 9.20; Pedretti and Trutty- Coohill 1993, no. 6; Scaglia 1995; Boston and Tübingen 1997, 146; New York 2002-3, no. 55; Matuschek 2005, no. 452; New York 2006, no. 6; Munich 2008-9, 13; Garton 2011, 159ff.; New York 2013-14, 61-62; Milan 2015, V1.15.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 6, p. 14-15.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twenty-First Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984-1986. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1989, p. 357-358.
Selected references: Morrison 1892, 6:325; Richter 1939, 2: no. 45; Steinitz 1948, 41; Richter 1970, 1: no. 50; De Toni 1975, 6-7; Pedretti 1977, no. 46; Pedretti 1988, 142- 43; Fellows Report 22 1989, 357-58; London 1989, no. 114; Florence 1992, no. 9.20; Pedretti and Trutty- Coohill 1993, no. 6; Scaglia 1995; Boston and Tübingen 1997, 146; New York 2002-3, no. 55; Matuschek 2005, no. 452; New York 2006, no. 6; Munich 2008-9, 13; Garton 2011, 159ff.; New York 2013-14, 61-62; Milan 2015, V1.15.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 6, p. 14-15.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twenty-First Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984-1986. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1989, p. 357-358.
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