Monday, November 26, 2012

Early Explosives

Grenades, projectiles, fireworks and offensive weaponry
illustrations from a 16th century German manuscript



rocket bird + turbo cat



Feuer Buech 68r



Feuer Buech 91v



Feuer Buech 122v



Feuer Buech 133v



Feuer Buech 148r



Feuer Buech 178v



Feuer Buech 114v



Feuer Buech 116r



Feuer Buech 194v



Feuer Buech 169r



Feuer Buech 96r



Feuer Buech 121v



Feuer Buech 168r



Feuer Buech 55v



Feuer Buech 162r



Feuer Buech 116v



Beyond the novel inclusion of our rocket bird and turbo cat - up top - this 1584 treatise on explosive devices appears to illustrate weaponry seen in earlier manuscripts and offers no new technologies for the Renaissance commando types.

The sketches show various types of barrel bombs, hand grenades, nasty fragmentation/shrapnel explosives, cannons, throwing stars caltrops (anti-personnel ground spikes), unsophisticated spear and staff-mounted 'rockets' or bombs, catherine or pin wheel fireworks and your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine fire vessels and defensive emplacement stakes. Good to know that our modern evil ways build on the twisted imaginations of artistic forebears.



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