385

On the human body in action.

A man who wants to send an arrow very far from the bow must be standing entirely on one foot and raising the other so far from the foot he stands on as to afford the requisite counterpoise to his body which is thrown on the front foot. And he must not hold his arm fully extended, and in order that he may be more able to bear the strain he must hold a piece of wood which there is in all crossbows, extending from the hand to the breast, and when he wishes to shoot he suddenly leaps forward at the same instant and extends his arm with the bow and releases the string. And if he dexterously does every thing at once it will go a very long way.

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

Notebooks of Leonoardo da Vinci
VII: On the Proportions and on the Movements of the Human Figure.
. . .
365,
366,
367
The movement of the human figure.
368,
369,
370,
371,
372,
373,
374
Of walking up and down.
375,
376,
377,
378,
379
On the human body in action.
380,
381,
382,
383,
384,
385,
386,
387,
388
On hair falling down in curls.
389
On draperies.
390,
391,
392