There are evidences that Leonardo Da Vinci visited Val Trompia, the valley Beretta is located in since 1526.

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.


Celebration of a genius

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. 

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Unique engraving

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. 

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The signature

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

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The final touch

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. 

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