PODS AND FRUITS¹ — DRAWINGS AND ORNAMENTAL LETTERS [?]².

Facsimile of a manuscript folio containing botanical drawings and enigmatic annotations.

A botanical study featuring hanging seed pods and round fruits, possibly cherries. These watercolor sketches demonstrate the observational scientific style of the Renaissance, although their direct attribution to Leonardo has been debated by scholars.

Below the botanical drawings, a series of technical and calligraphic sketches:

T... ... ...?

Two lines of enigmatic script follow, described by the editor as "strange characters" or a possible "secret alphabet."

souls original: "animj", likely "animi", Latin for souls or minds.

A collection of enigmatic scripts and geometric diagrams. The script contains unusual characters speculated to be a secret alphabet or ornamental exercise, accompanied by geometric studies of squares and circles.

Various geometric diagrams showing squares and a circle with marked vertices or intersections. To the right, a vertical ornamental design, possibly a flagpole or spire study.

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1. Doubts have been raised about the authenticity of these pods and fruits, which are painted in watercolor.

2. I have not been able to find a definitive meaning for the first line of writing on the front of folio 3, nor for the two lines that follow. These last lines consist of strange characters joined by various signs. At first, one might think they form words. However, experts I consulted have not been able to link them to any known language. Perhaps they belonged to a secret alphabet. It is notable that they appear alongside calligraphic exercises and decorative drawings. They may have been intended as ornaments. Further down, one reads: souls original: "animj". See: The Writings of Leonardo da Vinci, by Charles Ravaisson-Mollien, page 38, taken from the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Quantin edition, 1881.