![Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci attributed to Francesco Melzi](https://cmsadmin.rct.uk/sites/default/files/lead_image_half_height/RC1894_Leonardo%201600%20x%20625_Yellow.jpg)
LEONARDO DA VINCI (VINCI 1452-AMBOISE 1519)
Mortars firing into a fortress
c.1503-4RCIN 912275
Leonardo shows how the curtain wall of a fortress may be breached and the bailey within subdued by mortar fire. The drawing deals with tactics rather than a particular project, suggesting that Leonardo’s work surveying fortifications for Cesare Borgia had revived his interest in military theory.