IMSS - IV.5E. The Smelting System

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	IV.5E.a Leonardo da Vinci, Royal Collection, Windsor, 12349r; P 112r Smelting system for the equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza (first project). Leonardo had planned to use underground furnaces, a solution that would not only shorten the length of the channels through which the molten bronze flowed but also leave free access to the casting pit for positioning the mold.

[IV.5E The Smelting System]

Making a statue of such colossal size as the Sforza monument in a single casting called for a smelting system with multiple furnaces. Leonardo dedicated great attention to studying the optimum typology for the furnaces, their location and the system of channels for feeding the mold.