A drawing of a deluge which seems to have turned on itself. In the foreground cataracts and whirlpools are carrying all before them; but in the sky huge spouts of rain no longer aim at the earth, but curl upwards in great volutes. Towards the end of his life, Leonardo became fascinated by huge deluges overwhelming the earth, and made many drawings of the subject for his own satisfaction. Here the swirling vortices of wind and rain have destroyed a town, and blocks of masonry collapse down the hill and into the battered landscape.