Elenco Swing Bridge User Manual
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“Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water
loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen;
even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.”
(April 15, 1452 - May 2, 1519)
Leonardo
Leonardo da Vinci
was born April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy. Da Vinci was
an artist, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor,
architect, botanist, musician and writer. He has often been described as a perfect
example of a Renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled
only by his powers of invention and observation. Da Vinci is widely considered
to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely
talented person to have ever lived.
At an early age, Da Vinci’s talent for drawing became evident, and his father
apprenticed his young son to a noted period artist, Andrea del Verrocchio.
Through the coming years, the young Leonardo learned much from his mentor and
at the age of thirty, Da Vinci left Florence and settled in Milan and established
a workshop of his own. During the following years, he earned his living painting
commissioned pieces. He soon came to the conclusion that it was not possible for
him to earn steady income doing this and began his search for employment.
He began by writing a letter to the Duchy of Milan, Duke Ludovico Sforza,
known by the nickname, the Moor. In this correspondence, Da Vinci stated that
he had studied machines of war and had come up with improvements that would