The Way to Construct a Frame-Work for Decorating Buildings.
The way in which the poles ought to be placed for tying bunches of juniper on to them. These poles must lie close to the framework of the vaulting and tie the bunches on with osier withes, so as to clip them even afterwards with shears.
Let the distance from one circle to another be half a braccia; and the juniper [sprigs] must lie top downwards, beginning from below.
Round this column tie four poles to which willows about as thick as a finger must be nailed and then begin from the bottom and work upwards with bunches of juniper sprigs, the tops downwards, that is upside down. [Footnote: See Pl. CII, No. 3. The words here given as the title line, lines 1—4, are the last in the original MS.—Lines 5—16 are written under fig. 4.]
763.
The water should be allowed to fall from the whole circle a b.
[Footnote: Other drawings of fountains are given on Pl. CI (W. XX);
the original is a pen and ink drawing on blue paper; on Pl. CIII
(MS. B.) and Pl. LXXXII.]
VI. Studies of architectural details.
Several of Leonardo's drawings of architectural details prove that, like other great masters of that period, he had devoted his attention to the study of the proportion of such details. As every organic being in nature has its law of construction and growth, these masters endeavoured, each in his way, to discover and prove a law of proportion in architecture. The following notes in Leonardo's manuscripts refer to this subject.
MS. S. K. M. Ill, 47b (see Fig. 1). A diagram, indicating the rules as given by Vitruvius and by Leon Battista Alberti for the proportions of the Attic base of a column.
MS. S. K. M. Ill 55a (see Fig. 2). Diagram showing the same rules.
764.
B toro superiore..... toro superiore 2B nestroli...... astragali quadre 3B orbiculo........ troclea 4B nestroli...... astragali quadre 5B toro iferiore...... toro iferiore 6B latastro........ plintho
[Footnote: No explanation can be offered of the meaning of the letter B, which precedes each name. It may be meant for basa (base). Perhaps it refers to some author on architecture or an architect (Bramante?) who employed the designations, thus marked for the mouldings. 3. troclea. Philander: Trochlea sive trochalia aut rechanum. 6. Laterculus or latastrum is the Latin name for Plinthus (pi lambda Xiv) but Vitruvius adopted this Greek name and "latastro" seems to have been little in use. It is to be found besides the text given above, as far as I am aware, only two drawings of the Uffizi Collection, where in one instance, it indicates the abacus of a Doric capital.]
765.