In the Codex Arundel, Leonardo depicts designs for diving suits made from leather, complete with glass goggles and cane tubing. Diving suitsįollowing the invasion of Milan, Leonardo fled the city state and spent a brief stint in Venice.Īs his temporary new home was also under threat from foreign powers (this time by the Ottoman empire), the polymath again offered his services as a military engineer. According to one story, the invading soldiers used Leonardo’s massive clay model of the sculpture for target practice. Then, when French troops entered Milan in 1499 and Sforza was overthrown, the project was abandoned for good. Unfortunately, the scheme was put on hold following the outbreak of the Italian Wars in the 1490s, and Milan’s bronze supplies were diverted to make weapons instead. He later simplified the design, realising that it would be too complicated to make a reality (Image Credit: Public Domain). Armoured fighting vehicleĪlongside his so-called ‘helicopter’ and ‘parachute’, Leonardo designed several other contraptions that foreshadow innovations of more recent times.Īmong them is the armoured car that appears in the Codex Arundel (below), which has often been likened to a modern tank.Ĭonceived in c1487, the conical vehicle is depicted with cannons around its full circumference, allowing it to attack from 360 degrees.Ĭrucially, the soldiers inside the tank would have been protected from enemy fire thanks to metal plates reinforcing its wooden shell.Īn early study for Leonardo’s equestrian monument for the Duke of Milan, dated c1490. Other such contraptions are depicted on the same sheet as the crossbow, improving on Valturio’s designs. Overall, the crossbow was one of a number of siege weapons that Leonardo drew after studying the works of an earlier military engineer named Roberto Valturio, who published a treatise named De re militari (‘On the Military Arts’) in 1472. The weapon – although never built – was deliberately designed to be intimidating (Image Credit: Public Domain). Leonardo’s ‘giant crossbow’, accompanied by notes written in his characteristic mirror-writing script. While there is no evidence to suggest a working prototype was ever built, Leonardo believed that the sheer sight of such weapons would strike fear into the hearts of the enemy. Giant crossbowĪ more famous military invention, sketched c1490, is also found in the Codex Atlanticus.Ĭommonly dubbed the ‘giant crossbow’, the ludicrously large contraption (as demonstrated by the size of the man in the drawing, below) was designed to launch projectiles such as boulders. The simple structure was designed to be erected in a matter of minutes, making it ideal for military use (Image Credit: Cntrading / CC).ĭesigned to help armies cross bodies of water, the bridge is made up of several notched wooden poles, erected without the need for any screws or other fastenings.Īs demonstrated by modern replicas (like that pictured above), the pressure created by the interlocking beams keeps the whole structure firmly in place. Whether lying horizontally or standing in an upright position, the pilot would have operated the machines using pedals and levers – very much relying on their physical strength to get off the ground and stay airborne.Ī modern incarnation of Leonardo’s self-supporting bridge, constructed in Denmark. Typically, the contraptions he drew were ‘ornithopters’, with membrane-covered wings designed to flap up and down. However, concepts for so-called flying machines were sketched throughout Leonardo’s career. Towards the end of his life, the polymath gathered his thoughts on the topic in a text known as the Codice sul volo degli uccelli (‘Codex on the Flight of Birds’), written around 1505–06. By studying the anatomy of birds, he hoped to build a machine that would one day allow humans to join them in the skies. OrnithoptersĪmong his numerous scientific interests, Leonardo harboured a particular obsession with flight. In this article we delve into Leonardo’s notes and pick out 10 of his most impressive inventions and feats of engineering – some of which foreshadow innovations of more recent times. It’s something of an understatement to say that Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was a ‘genius’.Īs well as being responsible for world-famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, the Renaissance man was also a highly talented anatomist, zoologist, geologist, mathematician and military engineer (to name but a few), whose insatiable curiosity about the world around him knew no bounds.ĭuring the course of his life – from his early days in Florence, right through to his final years in France – the polymath sketched out ideas and recorded scientific investigations on thousands of sheets of paper, gathered today in volumes known as codices.
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