LEONARDO da Vinci
(b. 1452, Vinci, d. 1519, Cloux, near Amboise)

Cannon foundry

1487
Pen and ink on paper
Royal Library, Windsor

The project for casting a gigantic cannon leads us to assume that Leonardo was familiar with the customary process for casting cannon. The heavy cannon was to be moved by means of levers and block and tackle, then to be mounted on a moving undercarriage. Even though this is merely a drawing on a technical subject, one can clearly see what an enormous effort the figures are having to make to shift the weight.