[Footnote: See Pl. LXXVIII, No.1.]

Decorations for feasts.

762.

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.

STEPS OF URRBINO.

The plinth must be as broad as the thickness of the wall against
which the plinth is built. [Footnote: See Pl. CX No. 3. The hasty
sketch on the right hand side illustrates the unsatisfactory effect
produced when the plinth is narrower than the wall.]

766.

The ancient architects ...... beginning with the Egyptians (?) who,
as Diodorus Siculus writes, were the first to build and construct
large cities and castles, public and private buildings of fine form,
large and well proportioned .....

The column, which has its thickness at the third part .... 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.]

The capital must be formed in this way. Divide its thickness at the
top into 8; at the foot make it 5/7, and let it be 5/7 high and you
will have a square; afterwards divide the height into 8 parts as you
did for the column, and then take 1/8 for the echinus and another
eighth for the thickness of the abacus on the top of the capital.
The horns of the abacus of the capital have to project beyond the


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