Fol. 13r

Leonardo returns to a detail that he had already dealt with on fol. 10. The alula, or bastard wing, is comprised of a tuft of feathers inserted on the front edge of the wing, which makes it possible to cut the wind rapidly and efficaciously. It is evident that the Maestro has cross-referenced his observations of kites in flight with his anatomical studies. Between the two sketches on this page emerges a curious idea for the use of the flying machine: he imagines that a pilot would be able to go to the mountains to pick up snow in order to sprinkle it on the city during summer festivals.

«Si porterà d'estate la neve nei luoghi caldi, prendendola dalle alte cime dei monti e si lascerà cadere sulle piazze durante le feste»
(In the summer snow could be brought to hot places, taking it from the high tops of the mountains and letting it fall on the city squares during festivals.)

NOTE. For each page of Leonardo’s Codex we provide a brief summary, with the quotation of one that page’s most significant passages edited in modern Italian, with an English translation.

translation by Kim Williams