Hydromechanical perpetual wheel

Alexander Neuwahl, Andrea Bernardoni

2024

Among Leonardo’s many attempts to conceive a perpetual motion machine, this wheel stands out for its original use of pistons and liquids in a closed circuit, regulated by a clockwork mechanism.

Described on folio 1062 v of the Codex Atlanticus, the hydromechanical perpetual wheel consists of a rotating frame on which two piston devices are mounted in an orthogonal arrangement. Each device includes a pair of opposing cylinders connected by an S-shaped hydraulic conduit, within which movable pistons operate. During rotation, the weight of the pistons pushes the liquid from one cylinder to the other, creating a dynamic imbalance that drives the wheel’s motion.

Leonardo envisaged installing up to four modules on the same axle, with an impulse every 30 degrees of rotation. In a note, he also considers the possibility of using three modules, staggered by 60 degrees. His attention to technical detail is remarkable: to prevent the bellows’ leather from deteriorating in contact with water, Leonardo suggests using wine as the working fluid.

The system is completed with a foliot escapement, the same mechanism used in contemporary clocks, to regulate the wheel’s rotational speed. A similar version of the wheel also appears in Madrid Codex I (f. 74 r), where Leonardo describes this device as “moto soffistico”—theoretically fascinating, but impossible to make work in practice.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Wood, iron, and leather
Measures
Height: 183 cm; Width: 125 cm; Depth: 38 cm
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus, f. 1062 v
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, first floor

The self-moving carriage (2010)

Made by
Etruria Musei

2010

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Wood, iron, rope, leather
Measures
Width: 60 cm, Height: 40 cm, Depth: 60 cm.
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus, f. 812 r
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, second floor

Related exhibits

Last update: 24 June 2025, 11:50

From gold to brocade

Made by
Giusto Manetti Battiloro

The objects on display were donated by the historic Florentine firm Giusto Manetti Battiloro (Battiloro means gold-beater), which even today continues its activity of weaving precious threads. 

In the special paper package, called the “form”, small squares of gold are inserted, which have been cut from a thin ribbon obtained by processing an ingot through a machine known as a rolling mill. The “form” is subjected to the beating process, using hammers of different shapes and weights, which is why the machine is called a gold-beater. Thin leaves of gold are obtained in this manner, which are then cut into the desired size and inserted into booklets of tissue paper.
We can also obtain threads from gold or silver, making use of complex procedures, which can be used in the weaving of precious fabrics, such as the shiny Veronese brocades on display here, reproducing a concept by Giuseppe Lisio, ancestor of the Florentine manufacturer by the same name.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Exhibit
Collection
Storage location
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, first floor

Spinning wheel with flyer-driven spindle

Made by
Manifattura lucchese

fine XIX° secolo

Toward 1480, the introduction of the flyer-driven spindle, an adaptation of the traditional spinning wheel, represented an innovation in the field of textile manufacturing, making it possible to carry out the spinning process and, at the same time, the winding of the thread on the bobbin.

This technology had been used for centuries with very few changes, as evidenced by this 19th century spinning wheel in which the pedal wheel actuates two pulleys. Since they are of different sizes, the two pulleys transmit movement to both the spindle and the bobbinbut with different speeds: the spindle and the flyer twist the thread, turning slower than the bobbin on which the thread is wound.
The spinner, starting from the farthest hook on the flyer, manually passes the thread onto all the hooks so that it will wrap uniformly on the bobbin. Determined to improve this part of the spinning process, Leonardo designed the continuous flyer-driven spinning machine.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Mulberry and fir wood, with beech additions
Measures
Height: 37 cm, Width: 35 cm, Depth: 30 cm
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Hausbuch 34 a (two-cord version)
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, first floor

The true starting point of the museum journey, the immersive video “Leonardo’s Mechanics” introduces the central theme of the collection. The digital elaboration, featuring a sequence of Leonardo’s drawings presented according to the themes addressed by the museum, reflects Leonardo’s continuous and passionate research on motion and its causes. Every single mechanical element of Leonardo’s projects seems to come to life thanks to the addition of sound elements that translate the individual graphic components into sounds.

 

 

Leonardo’s multifaceted activity finds in drawing the main tool for investigation, reflection, ideation, and design: no other contemporary was capable of doing the same. His machine drawings, so modern, current, and effective, continue to amaze and fascinate even today.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Video
Storage location
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, first floor

Crank-operated elevator

Luigi Boldetti

1980

This model, inspired by a drawing in Madrid Codex I, presents an innovative system for moving both upwards and downwards. The mechanism is operated by a crank that drives one of the four gears (two driving and two idler) located within the central block; a rope passes between the wheels, winding in a figure-eight pattern. A person, standing on the stirrup supported by iron rods, can turn the crank to ascend and descend along the rope together with the entire mechanism.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Wood, rope, iron
Measures
Width: 128 cm, Length: 32 cm, Depth: 21 cm
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Madrid Codex I, f. 9 r
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, second floor

Within a wooden frame, a worm screw is mounted between two pivots, engaging a circular section of rack connected to a fixed rod. The worm screw transmits its motion to the rack, thus producing the alternating movement of the rod, which can in turn be linked to other moving parts.

This mechanism, reconstructed on the basis of a drawing from Manuscript B of the Institut de France in Paris, recalls the operation of modern automobile steering systems.

Leonardo was always fascinated by the structure of the screw, which he studied and depicted in all its possible variations, later classifying their individual features in numerous pages of his manuscripts. Through extensive graphic documentation, he illustrated the many potential applications of this element in machines and mechanical operations.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Carved Swiss pine wood
Measures
Width: 75 cm, Length: 75 cm, Depth: 75 cm.
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Manuscript B (France), f. 72 r
Inventory number
Object Record No.: 00000057
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, second floor

Related exhibits

Last update: 29 September 2025, 11:10

Automatic weaving loom

Luigi Boldetti

1954

Among the many solutions proposed by Leonardo for mechanizing the process of weaving, the automatic loom is perhaps one of the most innovative.

By means of a series of mechanisms set into synchronized motion by a driving wheel, two arms alternately grasp the spool carrying the weft thread from one edge to the other of the warp. In this way, strips of fabric of reduced width are obtained. Since the spool is gripped and accompanied, the path it can travel is relatively short, so this type of loom is capable of mechanizing the weaving process only for ribbons.
Between the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century, this solution conceived by Leonardo found application in the mechanical looms of the French Jean Baptiste De Gennes and Jacques Vaucanson.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Wood, iron and leather
Measures
Width: 102.5 cm, Length: 213 cm; Depth: 100 cm.
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Atlanticus, f. 985 r
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, first floor

Related exhibits

Last update: 19 June 2025, 14:25

Studies of the upper limb

Paola Salvi, Made by
Moreno Vezzoli

2016

Leonardo undertook studying the articulation of the upper limbs in order to improve the expressiveness and naturalness of the personages in his paintings. It was the artist’s intention that bodies ought to express their vitality through movements that ought to be “very obvious”. Movement is given by the mobility of the skeleton and by muscular contractions.

Inside the window, the models in ceroplastics reproduce the area of the body to which Leonardo attributed great importance: the upper limb and the shoulder. This latter is the most mobile joint of the body, and the primary in allowing the multiple movements of the arm. The muscles of the shoulder and chest are shown severed and raised in order to display the different stratifications.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Wax sculpture
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Windsor Collection, f. RL 19000 v
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, second floor

Related exhibits

Last update: 24 June 2025, 10:35

Studies of the cranium

Paola Salvi, Made by
Moreno Vezzoli

2016

Leonardo studied the bone structure of the cranium, drawing it with extreme care and precision. Inside the window, the wax models reproduce exactly the marvelous drawings Leonardo made, allowing us to appreciate the morphology of the cranium, both internally and externally.

In the cranium to the right, two small, crossed metal segments identify the exact point where Leonardo positions the so-called “common sense”. This is the point at which the emotions (sensorial impressions) deriving from all the senses were believed to converge. Here resides the “soul”, and here is the seat of judgment, assisted by imagination and memory.

In the cranium to the left, cut in half and separated, we see the frontal part where the ocular orbits and nasal cavity stand out. In particular, we can observe the structure of the bone tissue in the jaw and distinguish some teeth and their roots.

Technical informations

Type of exhibit
Model
Collection
Material
Wax sculpture
Storage location
Relationship with the original work
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Windsor Collection, f. RL 19058 v
Location
Museo Leonardiano, Palazzina Uzielli, second floor

Related exhibits

Last update: 24 June 2025, 10:07

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