Da Vinci probably drew a detailed map around 1510, showing the distance in miles between settlements and the presence of an "iron mine" in the higher part of the valley. There is also a sketch of bellows used to feed the forge. Finally, the sketch for the main altar of the Church of San Francesco d'Assisi in Brescia, likely a first step in the commission by Francesco Sanson to Leonardo da Vinci, but never realized and subsequently entrusted to Romanino.
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta created a unique set to celebrate this connection: a pair of beautifully engraved SL3 over-and-under shotguns, whose bottom of the receiver portrays old Da Vinci's self-portrait on one shotgun and the Mona Lisa on the other one.
The engravings were created using the hammer and chisel and burin techniques. The set is completed by a leather gun case made in the in-house Atelier, embellished with a pyrographed reproduction of the Vitruvian man.
Leonardo Da Vinci's signature was engraved on the barrels using the gold inlay technique. The trigger guard was also embellished with a script displaying his year of death, 1519, the shotgun creation year and the 500th anniversary, again using the gold inlay technique. A high grade red walnut wood was chosen for the stock and the forend to remind the "sanguine" graphic technique Leonardo used to adopt
Two of the most famous themes of Leonardo's painting , his self-portrait and the Mona Lisa, have been placed into the frame of the receiver flower engraving. Leonardo Da Vinci's signature was engraved on the barrels using the gold inlay technique.
We are pushed by the desires our customers. When someone comes to us with a dream, they take part in its realization step by step
