Didascalia: Codex Atlanticus, folio 126 v. former folio 46 v.a.

The folio shows three drawings of the study of a canal for the city of Florence. They can be dated to the years 1482-3, if the well-known letter to Ludovico il Moro is anything to go by. In the letter, Leonardo mentioned that he knew how to conducer acqua da uno loco ad un altro “conduct water from one place to another.”
The top section of the folio shows a long annotation that gives a description of the embankments’ profiles and explains how to prevent erosion. The centre of the folio contains the drawing of a “canal bridge” for crossing a watercourse with the aid of a system of sluice gates. The lower section of the folio features the same canal as seen sideways above the bridge.