What is in this image? Describe it as if you were explaining it to someone from the 15th century.
In the image, you can see what might remind you of the fantastical flying machines thought up by our own inventors and dreamers. This device appears to be a carriage, unlike any horse-drawn vehicle you''re accustomed to; it has no horses, no wheels for rolling, and seemingly no means of propulsion typical to our time.Atop this curious carriage is a large, circular blade that spins, which proposedly grants this machine the ability to lift into the sky—a concept similar to how birds flutter their wings but more mechanical in nature. At the rear of the device, a smaller, similar circular object is positioned horizontally. This likely alters and controls its direction when aloft.The body of the contraption is rounded and plump, possibly to hold passengers much like a small boat, but it appears intended for the air, not water. Below the body, there are skids that look like flattened sled runners you might use on snow. These would allow the machine to rest on the ground when not in flight.Such a depiction draws from the wellspring of da Vinci’s sketches, imagining a craft soaring in the heavens, defying the grasp of the earth—a marvel to behold if it could ever exist beyond the plane of parchment and ink.