Inventor, engineer, artist, sculptor, and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest figures during the period of the Renaissance. This inimitable master of art and design implemented his outstanding skills in weaponry design, architecture, canal buildings, and military engendering. In some of his inventions, da Vinci resorted to the use of drawings that can be considered outstanding examples of illustrated graphics of those days. Among these inventions were the Machine for Storming Walls, the Automatic Igniting Device for Firearms, the Ornithopter Flying Machine, the Stretching Device for a Barrel, the Flying Machine 1488, the Flying Machine 2, the Armoured Car, the Giant Crossbow, the Eight Barrelled Machine Gun, and the Parachute. The levels of graphical details, observed in those drawings and inventions, are highly distinguished. Below, some of the most remarkable of those drawings and inventions will be addressed in detail.
Da Vinci’s Eight Barrelled Machine Gun is one of his military inventions in which he demonstrates not only his excellent ability to be a practical inventor, but also his great designer talent. Studying the drawing of this object, it is possible to see a few levels of its graphical details including the details of a shaft, trigger, and loader. This piece generally consists of a few major parts having their particular purposes. The main part of the mechanism is aimed at shafting. It consists of wooden details of the same size that can be seen in the drawings. The other important part of the mechanism is a triggering part where we can observe several rods and leverages. Yet another important detail is a loading mechanism. In the drawings, the mechanism is shown with convenient handles aiming to protect the user of this object from any possible harm that may be caused by the explosive materials.
Next, the Machine for Storming Walls by da Vinci is yet another example of his great engendering and designer talent. The drawings of this machine are some of the most detailed drawings by da Vinci that exist nowadays. Examining the project of the machine, it is possible to see all the minor details of its construction including the materials intended for its construction. The machine consists of a major wooden part aiming to carry the joint part of the mechanism which is aimed for strafing the walls of the enemy. This part of a pyramid form has wheels and joint pinches intended for its transportation within rather vast territories.
Finally, da Vinci’s Automatic Igniting Device for Firearms is one more example of his excellent engineering abilities. The device consists of a coil serving as a major part of its mechanism, an axle that is aimed to control the work of the coil, sleeves that join the parts of the device and intensify the effectiveness of the mechanism of igniting, and an expanding mandrel for expanding the holding mechanism of this outstanding piece of da Vinci’s engineering thought. The drawings of this device are fulfilled in a precise way saving the proportions of its mechanisms in an officinal exactness. The main concepts that da Vinci used for inventing this device were actively used by blade smiths in the XVII and XVIII centuries. Some of the brilliant ideas that da Vinci had had in this device were used for igniting mechanisms in the beginning of the XX century.