Textile machinery section

“This is second after the printing of letters, and it is no less useful and no less put into practice by men, and it is of greater gain, and a more beautiful and subtle invention.”

This is how Leonardo defined the art of weaving, and he dedicated himself to its study with great interest, devising machines for twisting and doubling the thread, as well as for spinning and weaving.

As in many of his other projects, Leonardo attempted in this area also to find solutions for automating some of the phases of the manufacturing cycle, not only to lighten and quicken the human workload, but also to increase production. Among Leonardo’s studies, of particular importance was the creation of a gold-beater, for automating the process of beating precious metals for the production of auroseric threads and fabrics (threads and cloths mixed with gold thread).