729

On stucco.

STUCCO.

Place stucco over the prominence of the..... which may be composed of Venus and Mercury, and lay it well over that prominence of the thickness of the side of a knife, made with the ruler and cover this with the bell of a still, and you will have again the moisture with which you applied the paste. The rest you may dry [Margin note: On stucco (729. 730).] [Footnote: In this passage a few words have been written in a sort of cipher—that is to say backwards; as in l. 3 erenev for Venere, l. 4 oirucrem for Mercurio, l. 12 il orreve co ecarob for il everro (?) co borace. The meaning of the word before “di giesso” in l. 1 is unknown; and the sense, in which sagoma is used here and in other passages is obscure.— Venere and Mercurio may mean ‘marble’ and ‘lime’, of which stucco is composed.

12. The meaning of orreve is unknown.]

well; afterwards fire it, and beat it or burnish it with a good burnisher, and make it thick towards the side.

STUCCO.

Powder ... with borax and water to a paste, and make stucco of it, and then heat it so that it may dry, and then varnish it, with fire, so that it shines well.

Taken from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci edited by Jean Paul Richter, 1880.

X * XII
Notebooks of Leonoardo da Vinci
XI: The notes on Sculpture.
. . .
709
Notes on the casting of the Sforza monument.
710,
711,
712,
713,
714,
715
Models for the horse of the Sforza monument.
716,
717,
718
Occasional references to the Sforza monument.
719,
720,
721,
722,
723,
724
The project of the Trivulzio monument.
725
The mint of Rome.
726
On the coining of medals.
727,
728
On stucco.
729,
730
On bronze casting generally.
731,
732,
733,
734,
735,
736,
737,
738,
739,
740
. . .