Technical drawings by the architects and engineers of the Renaissance made use of a range of new methods of graphic representation. These drawings -- among them Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawings of mechanical devices -- have long been studied for their aesthetic qualities and technological ingenuity; the significance of the drawings for the architects and engineers themselves is seldom considered. The essays in Picturing Machines 1400-1700 take this alternate perspective and look at how drawing shaped the practice of early modern engineering. They do so through detailed investigations of specific drawings, looking at 129 drawings that range from sketches to perspective views to thoroughly constructed projections.

In early modern engineering practice, drawings were not merely visualizations of ideas but acted as models that shaped ideas. Picturing Machines establishes basic categories for the origins, purposes, functions, and contexts of drawings, then treats a series of topics that not only focus on the most important aspects of the way drawings became an indispensable means of engineering but also reflect the main stages in the historical development of early modern engineering drawings. The authors examine the social interaction conveyed by early machine drawings and their function as communication between practitioners; the knowledge either conveyed or presupposed by technical drawings, as seen in the machine drawings of Giorgio Martini and Leonardo; drawings that required familiarity with geometry or geometric optics, including the development of architectural plans; and technical drawings that bridged the gap between practical and theoretical mechanics.