Description:

This model, based on a drawing in the Madrid I Codex, presents a novel way of moving oneself up and down. The mechanism is activated by a crank handle which engages one of the four toothed wheels (two driving wheels and two idle ones) mounted inside the central block; a rope is passed over the wheels and wrapped in a figure of 8. A person standing with their feet on the stirrup held by the two iron cables can, by turning the handle, go up or down along the rope, together with the whole mechanism.