Project and realization:
IBM Italia, 1952
Model from:
Leonardo da Vinci, Codice Forster I2, f. 46v
wood, wrought iron
cm 240 x 85 x 34
Description:
This model represents a war machine to be used for storming the walls of a town and is part of Leonardo’s studies on the tools to use for attack and defence during the siege of a town. It is a mobile ladder with separable components, fixed onto a trestle on which a worm screw is operated by a crank. The worm screw turns a large, partially-toothed wheel which, as it turns on its axle, changes the inclination and, consequently, the reach of the ladder. In this way the ladder could be leant against the outer walls of the fortress being besieged without running the risk of being pushed over backwards by the defenders’ poles, because one of the fundamental features of this machine is precisely its total stability. .