his arguments for abandoning the first scheme of the Sforza Monument, in which the horse was to be galloping (see page 2). It is also in favour of this theory that the note is written in a manuscript volume already completed in 1492. Leonardo's opinions as to the shortcomings of plastic works when compared with paintings are given under No. 655 and 656.]
Notes on the casting of the Sforza monument (710-715).
710.
Three braces which bind the mould.
[If you want to make simple casts quickly, make them in a box of river sand wetted with vinegar.]
[When you shall have made the mould upon the horse you must make the thickness of the metal in clay.]
Observe in alloying how many hours are wanted for each hundredweight. [In casting each one keep the furnace and its fire well stopped up.] [Let the inside of all the moulds be wetted with linseed oil or oil of turpentine, and then take a handful of powdered borax and Greek pitch with aqua vitae, and pitch the mould over outside so that being under ground the damp may not [damage it?]
[To manage the large mould make a model of the small mould, make a small room in proportion.]
[Make the vents in the mould while it is on the horse.]
Hold the hoofs in the tongs, and cast them with fish glue. Weigh the parts of the mould and the quantity of metal it will take to fill them, and give so much to the furnace that it may afford to each part its amount of metal; and this you may know by weighing the clay of each