Leonardo da Vinci

“ Houses intended for dancing or any kind of jumping or any other movements with a multitude of people, must be on the ground- floor; for I have already witnessed the destruction of some, causing death to many persons, and above all let every wall, be it ever so thin, rest on the ground or on arches with a good foundation. ”

“ And on each side at the extremity of the width of the said road let there be an arcade, 6 braccia broad, on columns; and understand that he who would go through the whole place by the high level streets can use them for this purpose, and he who would go by the low level can do the same. By the high streets no vehicles and similar objects should circulate, but they are exclusively for the use of gentlemen. The carts and burdens for the use and convenience of the inhabitants have to go by the low ones. One house must turn its back to the other, leaving the lower streets between them. ”

“ The inside is somewhat like a modern theatre, whilst the exterior and the galleries and stairs recall the ancient amphitheatres.
[Illustration with caption: Page 57, Fig. 4. A plan accompanying the two preceding drawings. If this gives the complete form Leonardo intended for the edifice, it would have comprised only about two thirds of the circle. Leonardo wrote in the centre_ "fondamento", _a word he often employed for plans, and on the left side of the view of the exterior:_ locho dove si predicha _ (a place for preaching in) ._]
_D. Design for a Mausoleum. ”

“ The earth that is dug out from the cellars must be raised on one side so high as to make a terrace garden as high as the level of the hall; but between the earth of the terrace and the wall of the house, leave an interval in order that the damp may not spoil the principal walls. ”

“ Granite alone would be adequate to the dimensions here given to the key stone, as the thickness of the layers can hardly be considered to be less than a foot. In taking this as the basis of our calculation for the dimensions of the whole construction, the width of the chamber would be about 25 feet but, judging from the number of urns it contains--and there is no reason to suppose that these urns were larger than usual--it would seem to be no more than about 8 or 10 feet. ”

“ Churches formed on the plan of a Greek cross.
Group I.
Domes rising from a circular base.
The simplest type of central building is a circular edifice.
Pl. LXXXIV, No. 9. Plan of a circular building surrounded by a colonnade.
Pl. LXXXIV, No. 8. Elevation of the former, with a conical roof.
Pl. XC. No. 5. A dodecagon, as most nearly approaching the circle.
Pl. LXXXVI, No. 1, 2, 3. Four round chapels are added at the extremities of the two principal axes;--compare this plan with fig. 1 on p. 44 and fig. 3 on p. 47 (W. P. 5b) where the outer wall is octagonal. ”

“ The church of San Lorenzo at Milan, was at that time still intact. The dome is to this day one of the most wonderful cupolas ever constructed, and with its two smaller domes might well attract the attention and study of a never resting genius such as Leonardo. A whole class of these sketches betray in fact the direct influence of the church of S. Lorenzo, and this also seems to have suggested the plan of Bramante's dome of St. ”

“ Larger sketch of half section of the Dome, with a very complicated system of arches, and a double vault. Each stone is shaped so as to be knit or dovetailed to its neighbours. Thus the inside of the Dome cannot be seen from below. ”

“ Below are the words "_strada dabosa_" (road to Amboise) , parallel with this "_fossa br 40_" (the moat 40 braccia) fixing the width of the moat. In the large court surrounded by a portico "_in terre No.--Largha br.80 e lugha br 120_." To the right of the castle is a large basin for aquatic sports with the words "_Giostre colle nave cioe li giostra li stieno sopra le na_" (Jousting in boats that is the men are to be in boats) . ”

“ This text is written by the side of the plan given on Pl. XCI. No. 2.]
[Footnote 12: The Abbey of Chiaravalle, a few miles from Milan, has a central tower on the intersection of the cross in the style of that of the Certosa of Pavia, but the style is mediaeval (A. D. 1330) . Leonardo seems here to mean, that in a building, in which the circular form is strongly conspicuous, the campanile must either be separated, or rise from the centre of the building and therefore take the form of a lantern.]
755.
It never looks well to see the roofs of a church ”

“ Let all the privies have ventilation [by shafts] in the thickness of the walls, so as to exhale by the roofs.
The mezzanines should be vaulted, and the vaults will be stronger in proportion as they are of small size.
The ties of oak must be enclosed in the walls in order to be protected from fire. ”

“ XCIX, No.1 (MS. Tr. 15) contains several small sketches of sections and exterior views of the Dome; some of them show buttress-walls shaped as inverted arches. Respecting these Leonardo notes:_
758.
L'arco rivescio e migliore per fare spalla che l'ordinario, perche il rovescio trova sotto se muro resistete alla sua debolezza, e l'ordinario no trova nel suo debole se non aria
The inverted arch is better for giving a shoulder than the ordinary one, because the former finds below it a wall resisting its weakness, whilst the latter finds in its weak part nothing but air. ”

“ A reproduction of this slightly sketched plan has not been possible. It may however be understood from Pl. LXXXVIII No. 3, by suppressing the four pillars corresponding to the apses.
Pl. LXXXVII No. 1 shows the section in elevation corresponding with the above-named plan. The recessed chapels are decorated with large shells in the halfdomes like the arrangement in San Lorenzo, but with proportions like those of Bramante's Sacristy of Santa Maria presso S. Satiro. ”

“ The pulpit is in the centre. Leonardo has written on the left side of the sketch_: "teatro da predicare" _ (Theatre for preaching) .
MS. B, 55a (see page 56, Fig. 1) . A domed church after the type of Pl. XCV, No. 1, shows four theatres occupying the apses and facing the square_ "coro" _ (choir) , which is in the centre between the four pillars of the dome. [Footnote 1: The note_ teatro de predicar, _on the right side is, I believe, in the handwriting of Pompeo Leoni. J. P. R.] The rising arrangement of the seats is shown in the sketch above. ”

“ The one which would be thinnest in the middle, would break ...; the one which is of equal thickness and of equal strength, is better for the edifice. The second best as to the usefulness will be the one whose greatest thickness is where it joins with the base.
[Footnote: See Pl. CIII, No. 3, where the sketches belonging to lines 10--16 are reproduced, but reversed. The sketch of columns, here reproduced by a wood cut, stands in the original close to lines 5--8.] ”

“ Octagon with an aisle round it; the angles of both are formed by columns. The outer sides are formed by 8 niches forming chapels. The exterior is likewise octagonal, with the angles corresponding to the centre of each of the interior chapels.
Pl. XCII, No. 2 (MS. B. 96b) . Detail and modification of the preceding plan--half columns against piers--an arrangement by which the chapels of the aisle have the same width of opening as the inner arches between the half columns. Underneath this sketch the following note occurs:_ questo vole - avere 12 facce - co 12 tabernaculi - come - _a_ - _b_. ”

“ A section of a circular pavilion with the plan of a similar building by the side of it. These two drawings have a special historical interest because the text written below mentions the Duke and Duchess of Milan.
The sketch of a villa on a terrace at the end of a garden occurs in C. A. 150; and in C. A. 77b; 225b is another sketch of a villa somewhat resembling the_ Belvedere _of Pope Innocent VIII, at Rome. In C. A. 62b; 193b there is a Loggia. ”