revolving crane
Leonardo created this rotating crane to move various weights around a 360-degree plane. During his years in Florence, he was exposed to the crane inventions that Filippo Brunelleschi designed for working on the Florence Cathedral. Leonardo’s design drawings included safety mechanisms and a complicated system of winches, ropes and pulleys. The crane, which revolved on a pivot, was designed to be mounted on a small trolley and balanced by guide wires. Photo from The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan, 2025.