How did Pepsi-Cola get its name?It once claimed to contain pepsin. Pepsi’s creator, Caleb Bradham, claimed his cola contained pepsin, an enzyme crucial to digestion, so Pepsi allegedly aided digestion. Though at first it trailed Coke in sales, today Pepsi is its main rival in the soft drink arena.

Where did Mercedes Benz get its name?
While Benz is for Carl Benz, Mercedes is from Mercedes Jellinek, daughter of Czech businessman and amateur racer Emil Jellinek, who named the car partly for his little girl. The three-pointed star in the ring originally symbolized earth, sea and sky, where the company’s motor-building influence spread.

What is the nationality of the founder of Bridgestone tires?
Bridgestone tires were founded by Shojiro Ishibashi, whose last name means “stone bridge” in Japanese. He translated the two parts into English so it sounded like Firestone, the company that would buy Bridgestone eventually.

Which petrol company told us to “put a tiger into our tank”?
Exxon. Esso and Exxon are parent companies. The Tiger started in Norway in the early twentieth century, as a leaping tiger emblem on Esso Norway roadside gasoline pumps. In 1959 an advertising agency in Chicago was asked by Exxon to create an advertisement to boost the sales of its petrol. In 1964 the cartoon tiger was introduced with the slogan “Put a Tiger in your Tank”. The success of the campaign prompted Time Magazine to proclaim 1964 as the “Year of the Tiger along Madison Avenue”. Within a year the cartoon tiger could be found in Europe, Australia and the Far East. The Esso Tiger was retired in the late 1960s but resurrected in 1972, when Esso changed its name to Exxon. Their slogan now said: “We”re changing our name, but not our stripes”. BP had told us they were “Beyond Petroleum” and SHell tried to make us believe we went well if we went Shell.

Who promised ‘to do the rest, if we pressed the button’?

Kodak. The first Kodak camera was launched in the U.S.A. in 1888. It was a simple black wooden box with a 100? exposure film. It rapidly became popular with amateur photographers.

Of what was it first said that it melted in your mouth, and ,fortunately enough, not in your hands?

Treets. Fortunately “Maltesers” are the “Chocolates with the less fattening centres”, and “Smarties” keep telling me “Wot a lot I got”. Good to know. ‘Treets’ were the first to have this slogan which now has been taken over by ‘M&M’. See www.chowhound.com/boards/general3/messages/27041.html

This company urged whisky drinkers not to be vague and to ask ________?

Haig. The ‘Haig’ adepts probably are quite unwilling to listen to other messages, such as the one from ‘Carnation’ who tell us they are “Milk from contented cows”. In case our stomach aches there is still ‘Alka-Seltzer’:” Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!”

What do “top people” take (or read)?

The Times. But let us not forget that the “New York Times” prints ” All the news that’s fit to print”. Alas the “News of the World” has another creed: “All human life is there”, and nothing is too sordid to be left out.

What beer refreshes the parts that others cannot reach?

Heineken. “Double Diamond” tried to persuade us that it “worked wonders”, and “Guinness” promoted itself as a beer for “invalids”, something which the Irish were only too willing to believe. Would you dare to doubt that “Guinness is good for you”?? Sounds much better to me than “Your country needs you”.

Which of these car makes, advertised itself as “the ultimate driving machine”?

B.M.W.. Produced by the “Bayerische Motor Werke”. “Audi” in 1984 still addressed us in German with the slogan “Vorsprung Durch Technik” -” Advantage By Technique”. “Avis” of course kept saying that they ‘tried harder’. “Dunlop” claimed to be “Tested for the Unexpected”, which was very re-assuring.

What is the name of the “Mint with the Hole”?

Polo. But if “Polo” cannot give you satisfaction, there is still “Milky Way” the “Sweet you can eat between meals.”

Which of these credit cards first claimed to be ‘your flexible friend’?

Access Card. Promises..promises ..Does not ‘Palmolive’ soap tell us that with “Palmolive” we “keep our schoolgirl complexion” .With ‘Camay’ “we ‘ll look a little lovelier each day”.And with a “Strand” cigarette ” We are never alone”.. Isn’t this Paradise? Access is also said to ‘take the waiting out of the wanting’ as can be found at: bubl.ac.uk/org/jugl/Seminar97/keynotea.htm

With which drink do things “go better”?

Coca-Cola. But with Pepsi we “Come alive “; in the case of Schweppes ” Shh…. You Know Who” and “Maxwell House coffee” is “Good to the last drop”. There are various lists of popular adslogans on the Internet. One such list is www.adslogans.co.uk/hof/hofindx7.html

It has been a long time since I posted anything…well, it took some time to get an internet connection. But then again, hwahwa had nothing to write….Sigh…

Leonardo da Vinci

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Leonardo" and "Da Vinci" redirect here. For other uses, see Leonardo (disambiguation) and Da Vinci (disambiguation).

Leonardo da Vinci ( Vinci, Italy, April 15, 1452 — May 2, 1519, Cloux, Amboise, France ^[1]) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: an architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, musician, and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius, a man infinitely curious and infinitely inventive. He is also considered one of the greatest painters that ever lived. He was also an alleged Grand Master of the Priory of Sion

In his lifetime, Leonardo — he had no surname in the modern sense; "da Vinci" simply means "from Vinci" — was an engineer, artist, anatomist, physiologist
and much more. His full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da
Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of [Mes]ser Piero from Vinci". Leonardo
is famous for his realistic paintings, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, as well as for influential drawings such as the Vitruvian Man. He conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his time, notably inventing the helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, the calculator,
a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and others
too numerous to mention. Relatively few of his designs were constructed
or were feasible during his lifetime; modern scientific approaches to
metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the
Renaissance. In addition, he contributed greatly to the study of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering,optics, and the study of water.
Of his works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks
(scattered among various collections) containing drawings, scientific
diagrams and notes.

Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Professional life 3 Art 3.1 Early works in Florence (1452–1482) 3.2 Milan (1482–1499) 3.3 Nomadic Period - Italy and France (1499–1519) 3.4 Selected works 4 Science and engineering 4.1 Anatomy 4.2 Inventions and engineering 4.3 His notebooks 5 Relationships 6 In fiction 7 Further reading 8 See also 9 References & Notes 10 External links

//

Early life

The first known biography of Leonardo was published in 1550 by Giorgio Vasari who wrote Vite de’ piu eccelenti architettori, pittori e scultori italiani ("The lives of the most excellent Italian architects, painters and sculptors"), and later became an independent painter in Florence.
Most of the information collected by Vasari was from first-hand
accounts of Leonardo’s contemporaries (Vasari was only a child when
Leonardo died), and it remains the first reference in studying
Leonardo’s life.

Until recently, it was thought that Leonardo was the illegitimate
son of a local peasant woman known as Caterina; now some evidence
indicates that Caterina may have been a Middle Eastern Slave. His
biological father appears to have been a Florentine notary
or craftsman named ser Piero da Vinci. Leonardo’s mother was married
off to one Antonio di Piero del Vacca, a labourer employed by his
biological father. According to papers recently found by the Museo
Ideale Leonardo Da Vinci in his home town of Vinci, the marriage
occurred just a few months after she gave birth to a boy called
Leonardo. Even though he was born after modern naming conventions came
into use, he was simply known as "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci",
which simply means "Leonardo, son of Piero, from Vinci". Leonardo signed his works "Leonardo" or "Io, Leonardo" ("I, Leonardo").

Leonardo grew up with his father, Ser Piero, in Florence where he started drawing and painting.
He started school when he was 5 years old. His early sketches were of
such quality that his father soon showed them to the painter Andrea del Verrocchio, who subsequently took on the fourteen-year old Leonardo as an apprentice. In this role, Leonardo also worked with Lorenzo di Credi and Pietro Perugino.

But the greatest of all Andrea’s pupils was Leonardo da Vinci, in
whom, besides a beauty of person never sufficiently admired and a
wonderful grace in all his actions, there was such a power of intellect
that whatever he turned his mind to he made himself master of with
ease. [1] ( Vasari)

Professional life

The earliest known dated work of Leonardo’s is a drawing done in pen and ink of the Arno valley, drawn on the 5th of August, 1473. It is assumed that he had his own workshop between 1476 and 1478, receiving two orders during this time.

From around 1482 to 1499, Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan [2], employed Leonardo and permitted him to operate his own workshop, complete with apprentices. It was here that seventy tons of bronze that had been set aside for Leonardo’s "Gran Cavallo" horse statue (see below) were cast into weapons for the Duke in an attempt to save Milan from the French under Charles VIII in 1495.

When the French returned under Louis XII in 1498, Milan fell without a fight, overthrowing Sforza [3]. Leonardo stayed in Milan for a time, until one morning when he found French archers using his life-size clay model of the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. He left with Salai, his assistant and intimate, and his friend Luca Pacioli (the first man to describe double-entry bookkeeping) for Mantua, moving on after 2 months to Venice (where he was hired as a military engineer), then briefly returning to Florence at the end of April 1500.

In Florence he entered the services of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, acting as a military architect and engineer; with Cesare he travelled throughout Italy. In 1506 he returned to Milan, now in the hands of Maximilian Sforza after Swiss mercenaries had driven out the French.

From 1513 to 1516, he lived in Rome, where painters like Raphael and Michelangelo
were active at the time, though he did not have much contact with these
artists. However, he was probably of pivotal importance in the
relocation of David (in Florence), one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, against the artist’s will.

In 1515 Francis I of France retook Milan, and Leonardo was commissioned to make a centrepiece (a mechanical lion) for the peace talks between the French king and Pope Leo X in Bologna, where he must have first met the King. In 1516, he entered Francis’ service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé (also called "Cloux") next to the king’s residence at the royal Chateau Amboise. The King granted Leonardo and his entourage generous pensions: the surviving document lists 1,000 écus for the artist, 400 for Count Francesco Melzi,
(his pupil and one of the great loves of his life, named as
"apprentice"), and 100 for Salai ("servant"). In 1518 Salai left
Leonardo and returned to Milan, where he eventually perished in a duel.
Francis became a close friend.

Leonardo da Vinci died at Clos Lucé, France, on 2nd May, 1519
(legend says he died in Francis’s arms). According to his wish, 60
beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of
Saint-Hubert in the castle of Amboise. Although Melzi was his principal heir and executor, Salai was not forgotten; he received half of Leonardo’s vineyard.

It is apparent from the works of Leonardo and his early biographers
that he was a man of high integrity and very sensitive to moral issues.
His respect for life led him to being a vegetarian for at least part of his life. The term "vegan"
would fit him well, as he even entertained the notion that taking milk
from cows amounts to stealing. Under the heading, "Of the beasts from
whom cheese is made," he answers, "the milk will be taken from the tiny
children." [4].
Vasari reports a story that as a young man in Florence he often bought
caged birds just to release them from captivity. He was also a
respected judge on matters of beauty and elegance, particularly in the
creation of pageants.

Art

Leonardo pioneered new painting techniques in many of his pieces.
One of them, a colour shading technique called "Chiaroscuro", used a
series of glazes custom-made by Leonardo. It is characterized by subtle
transitions between colour areas. Chiaroscuro is a technique of bold contrast between light and dark. Another effect created by Leonardo is called sfumato, which creates an atmospheric haze or smoky effect.

Early works in Florence (1452–1482)

Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Verrocchio in Florence when he was about 15. In 1476 Leonardo worked with Verrocchio to paint The Baptism of Christ for the friars of Vallombrosa.
He painted the angel at the front and the landscape, and the difference
between the two artists’ work can be seen, with Leonardo’s finer
blending and brushwork. Giorgio Vasari told the story that when Verrochio saw Leonardo’s work he was so amazed that he resolved never to touch a brush again.

Leonardo’s first solo painting was the Madonna and Child completed in 1478; at the same time, he also painted a picture of a little boy eating sherbet. From 1480 to 1481, he created a small Annunciation painting, now in the Louvre. In 1481 he also painted an unfinished work of St. Jerome. Between 1481 and 1482 he started painting The Adoration of the Kings (also known as The Adoration of the Magi).
He made extensive, ambitious plans and many drawings for the painting,
but it was never finished, as Leonardo’s services had been accepted by
the Duke of Milan.

Milan (1482–1499)

Leonardo spent 17 years in Milan in the service of Duke Ludovico
(between 1482 and 1499). He did many paintings, sculptures, and
drawings during this time. He also designed court festivals, and drew
many of his engineering sketches. He was given free reign to work on
any project he chose, though he left many projects unfinished,
completing only about six paintings during this time. These include The Last Supper (Ultima Cena or Cenacolo, in Milan) in 1498 and Virgin of the Rocks in 1494. In 1499 he painted Madonna and Child with St. Anne. He worked on many of his notebooks between 1490 and 1495, including the Codex Trivulzianus.

He often planned grandiose paintings with many drawings and
sketches, only to leave them unfinished. One of his projects involved
making plans and models for a monumental seven-metre-high (24 ft) horse
statue in bronze called "Gran Cavallo". Because of war with France, the
project was never finished. (In 1999 a pair of full-scale statues based on his plans were cast, one erected in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the other in Milan [5].)
The bronze intended for use in the building of the statue was used to
make cannon, and victorious French soldiers used the clay model of the
statue for target practice. The Hunt Museum in Limerick, Ireland has a small bronze horse thought to be the work of an apprentice from Leonardo’s original design.

When the French invaded Milan in 1499, Ludovico Sforza lost control, forcing Leonardo to search for a new patron.

Nomadic Period - Italy and France (1499–1519)

Between 1499 and 1516
Leonardo worked for a number of people, travelling around Italy doing
several commissions, before moving to France in 1516. This has been
described as a ‘Nomadic Period’. [6] He stayed in:

• Mantua (1500)
• Venice (1501)
• Florence (1501–06) known sometimes as his Second Florentine Period.
• Travelled between Florence and Milan staying in both places for short periods before settling in Milan.
• Milan (1506–13) (known sometimes as his Second Milanese Period, under the patronage of Charles d’Amboise until 1511)
• Rome (1514)
• Florence (1514)
• Pavia, Bologna, Milan (1515)
• France (1516–19) (patronage of King Francis I)

In 1500 he went to Mantua where he sketched a portrait of the Marchesa Isabella d’Este. He left for Venice in 1501, and soon after returned to Florence.

After returning to Florence, he was commissioned for a large public
mural commemorating a great military triumph in the history of
Florence, by the Grand Council Chamber in the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat
of government of the Florentine Republic (Zollner p. 164), [The Battle of Anghiari]; his rival Michelangelo was to paint the opposite wall [The Battle of Casina].
After producing a fantastic variety of studies in preparation for the
work, he left the city, with the mural unfinished due to problems with
getting paid by his employer and more importantly by his choice of
technique, which instead of the fresco technique he experimented again
(as in the last supper) with oil binders hoping to extend the time to
manipulate the paint (Zollner p172-178). The incomplete painting was
destroyed in a war in the middle of the sixteenth century. Not only Rubens but artists in the modern era have produced their own studies [based on Leonardo's original sketches.].

Most evidence proves that he began work on the Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda, now at the Louvre
in Paris) in 1503 and continued to work on it until 1506, working
sporadically on it well after that (Sasson p 22). It is likely to be
Lisa de Gherardini del Giocondo, wife of a silk merchant, Francesco del
Giocondo. Commissioned by her husband to commemorate the birth of their
second son as well as moving to a new home (Zollner p240). He most
likely kept it with him at all times, and did not travel without it.
Much is attributed to the importance of this painting, primarily why it
is the most famous painting in the world. In short, it was famous at
the time of its contemporaries for many different reasons than it is
now. Leonardo da Vinci’s use of sfumato (the smoky effect he has on his
work) transcended convention of the time, as did the sitter’s angle,
contrapposto, and the birds eye view of the background. For the most
part it has become famous for all of the above and for the
insurmountable amount of media attention it has received, in other
words, it has become famous for being famous.

He painted St Anne in 1509. Between 1506 and 1512, he lived in Milan
and under the patronage of the French Governor Charles d’Amboise, he
painted several other paintings. These included The Leda and the Swan,
known now only through copies as the original work did not survive. He
painted a second version of The Virgin of the Rocks (1506–1508). While
under the patronage of Pope Leo X, he painted St. John the Baptist
(1513–1516).

During his time in France, Leonardo made studies of the Virgin Mary for The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and many drawings and other studies.

Selected works

• The Baptism of Christ (1472–1475) – Uffizi, Florence,
  Italy (from Verrocchio’s workshop; angel on the left-hand side is
  generally agreed to be the earliest surviving painted work by Leonardo)
• Annunciation (1475–1480) – Uffizi, Florence, Italy
• Ginevra de’ Benci (c. 1475) – National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States
• The Benois Madonna (1478–1480) – Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• The Virgin with Flowers (1478–1481) – Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
• Adoration of the Magi (1481) – Uffizi, Florence, Italy
• The Madonna of the Rocks (1483–86) – Louvre, Paris, France
• Lady with an Ermine (1488–90) – Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland
• Portrait of a Musician (c. 1490) – Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy
• Madonna Litta (1490–91) – Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
• La belle Ferronière (1495–1498) – Louvre, Paris, France
• Last Supper (1498) – Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
• The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (c. 1499–1500) – National Gallery, London, UK
• Madonna of the Yarnwinder 1501 (original now lost)
• Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (1503-1505/1507) – Louvre, Paris, France
• The Madonna of the Rocks or The Virgin of the Rocks (1508) – National Gallery, London, UK
• Leda and the Swan (1508) - (Only copies survive — best-known example in Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy)
• The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) – Louvre, Paris, France
• St. John the Baptist (c. 1514) – Louvre, Paris, France
• Bacchus (or St. John in the Wilderness) (1515) – Louvre, Paris, France

Science and engineering

Renaissance humanism
saw no mutually exclusive polarities between the sciences and the arts,
and Leonardo’s studies in science and engineering are as impressive and
innovative as his artistic work, recorded in notebooks comprising some
13,000 pages of notes and drawings, which fuse art and science. These
notes were made and maintained through Leonardo’s travels through
Europe, during which he made continual observations of the world around
him. He was left-handed and used mirror writing throughout his life. This is explainable by the fact that it is easier to pull a quill
pen than to push it; by using mirror-writing, the left-handed writer is
able to pull the pen from right to left. He wrote his diaries
(journals) using mirror writing.

His approach to science was an observational one: he tried to
understand a phenomenon by describing and depicting it in utmost
detail, and did not emphasize experiments or theoretical explanation. Since he lacked formal education in Latin and mathematics,
contemporary scholars mostly ignored Leonardo the scientist, although
he did teach himself Latin. It has also been said that he was planning
a series of treatises to be published on a variety of subjects; none
ever were, though.

Anatomy

Leonardo started to discover the anatomy of the human body at the time he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, as his teacher insisted that all his pupils learn anatomy. As he became successful as an artist, he was given permission to dissect human corpses at the hospital Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Later he dissected in Milano at the hospital Maggiore and in Rome at the hospital Santo Spirito (the first mainland Italian hospital). From 1510 to 1511 he collaborated with the doctor Marcantonio della Torre
(1481 to 1511). In 30 years, Leonardo dissected 30 male and female
corpses of different ages. Together with Marcantonio, he prepared to
publish a theoretical work on anatomy and made more than 200 drawings.
However, his book was published only in 1580 (long after his death)
under the heading Treatise on painting.

Leonardo drew many images of the human skeleton, and was the first to describe the double S form of the backbone. He also studied the inclination of pelvis and sacrum and stressed that sacrum was not uniform, but composed of five vertebrae. He was also able to represent exceptionally well the human skull and cross-sections of the brain (transversal, sagittal, and frontal). He drew many images of the lungs, mesentery, urinary tract, sex organs, and even coitus. He was one of the first who drew the fetus in the intrauterine position (he wished to learn about "the miracle of pregnancy"). He often drew muscles and tendons of the cervical muscles and of the shoulder. He was a master of topographic anatomy. He not only studied human anatomy, he studied the anatomy of many other animals, as well.

It is important to note that he was not only interested in structure but also in function, so he became a physiologist in addition to being an anatomist. He actively searched for models among those who had significant physical deformities, for the purpose of developing caricature drawings.

His study of human anatomy led also to the design of the first known robot in recorded history. The design, which has come to be called Leonardo’s robot,
was probably made around the year 1495 but was rediscovered only in the
1950s. It is not known if an attempt was made to build the device. He
correctly worked out how heart valves eddy the flow of blood yet he was
unaware of circulation
as he believed that blood was pumped to the muscles where it was
consumed. A diagram drawing Leonardo did of a heart inspired a British
heart surgeon to pioneer a new way to repair damaged hearts in 2005. [7]

Inventions and engineering

Fascinated by the phenomenon of flight, Leonardo produced detailed studies of the flight of birds, and plans for several flying machines, including a helicopter powered by four men (which would not have worked since the body of the craft would have rotated) and a light hang glider which could have flown. ^[2] On January 3, 1496 he unsuccessfully tested a flying machine he had constructed.

In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci produced a drawing of a single span 720-foot (240 m) bridge as part of a civil engineering project for Sultan Beyazid II of Constantinople. The bridge was intended to span an inlet at the mouth of the Bosphorus known as the Golden Horn. It was never built, but Leonardo’s vision was resurrected in 2001 when a smaller bridge based on his design was constructed in Norway.

Owing to his employment as a military engineer, his notebooks also contain several designs for military machines: machine guns, an armored tank powered by humans or horses, cluster bombs, a working parachute, etc. even though he later held war to be the worst of human activities. Other inventions include a submarine, a cog-wheeled device that has been interpreted as the first mechanical calculator, and a car powered by a spring mechanism. In his years in the Vatican, he planned an industrial use of solar power, by employing concave mirrors to heat water.
While most of Leonardo’s inventions were not built during his lifetime,
models of many of them have been constructed with the support of IBM and are on display at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum at the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise[8].

His notebooks

Leonardo’s notebooks were on four main themes; architecture, elements of mechanics, painting, and human anatomy.
These notebooks - originally loose papers of different types and sizes,
distributed by friends after his death - have found their way into
major collections such as the Louvre, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, and the British Library. The British Library has put a selection from its notebook (BL Arundel MS 263) on the web in the Turning the Pages section. [9] The Codex Leicester is the only major scientific work of Leonardo’s in private hands. It is owned by Bill Gates, and is displayed once a year in different cities around the world.

Why Leonardo did not publish or otherwise distribute the contents of
his notebooks remains a mystery to those who believe that Leonardo
wanted to make his observations public knowledge (He was a perfectionist, and didn’t want to share until the knowledge was presented and arranged as beautifully as possible). Technological historian Lewis Mumford
suggests that Leonardo kept notebooks as a private journal,
intentionally censoring his work from those who might irresponsibly use
it (the tank, for instance). They remained obscure until the 19th
century, and were not directly of value to the development of science
and technology. In January 2005, researchers discovered the hidden laboratory used by Leonardo da Vinci for studies of flight and other pioneering scientific work in previously sealed rooms at a monastery next to the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, in the heart of Florence.[10]

Relationships

Leonardo kept his private life particularly secret. He claimed to
have a distaste of physical relations: his comment that "the act of
procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting
that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and
sensuous dispositions", was later interpreted by Sigmund Freud, in an analysis of the artist, as indicative of his "frigidity" (Gesammelte Werke, bd VIII, 1909–1913).

The first known instance of his interest in youths occurred in 1476.
While still living with Verrocchio, he was twice accused anonymously of
sodomy with a 17 year-old model, Jacopo Saltarelli,
a youth already known to the authorities for his sexual escapades with
men. After two months in jail, he was acquitted, allegedly because no
witnesses stepped forward, but actually on the strength of his father’s
respected position. (Saslow, 1986, p.197) For some time afterwards,
Leonardo and the others were kept under observation by Florence’s Officers of the Night - a Renaissance organization charged with suppressing the practice of sodomy, as shown by surviving legal records of the Podestà and the Officers of the Night.

Leonardo’s alleged love of boys was a topic of discussion even in
the sixteenth century. In "Il Libro dei Sogni" (The Book of Dreams), a
fictional dialogue on l’amore masculino (male love) written by the contemporary art critic and theorist Gian Paolo Lomazzo,
Leonardo appears as one of the protagonists and declares, "Know that
male love is exclusively the product of virtue which, joining men
together with the diverse affections of friendship, makes it so that
from a tender age they would enter into the manly one as more stalwart
friends." In the dialogue, the interlocutor inquires of Leonardo about
his relations with his assistant, il Salaino, "Did you play the
game from behind which the Florentines love so much?" Leonardo answers,
"And how many times! Keep in mind that he was a beautiful young man,
especially at about fifteen."

Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed Salai or il Salaino
("The Little Unclean One" i.e., the devil), was described by Vasari as
"a graceful and beautiful youth with fine curly hair, in which Leonardo
greatly delighted." Il Salaino entered Leonardo’s household in 1490 at
the age of 10. The relationship was not an easy one. A year later
Leonardo made a list of the boy’s misdemeanours, calling him "a thief,
a liar, stubborn, and a glutton." The "Little Devil" had made off with
money and valuables on at least five occasions, and spent a fortune on
apparel, among which were twenty-four pairs of shoes. Nevertheless, il
Salaino remained his companion, servant, and assistant for the next
thirty years, and Leonardo’s notebooks during their early years contain
pictures of a handsome, curly-haired adolescent.

Il Salaino’s name also appears (crossed out) on the back of an erotic drawing (ca. 1513) by the artist, The Incarnate Angel, at one time in the collection of Queen Victoria. It is seen as a humorous and revealing take on his major work, St. John the Baptist,
also a work and a theme imbued with homoerotic overtones by a number of
art critics such as Martin Kemp and James Saslow (Saslow, 1986, passim). Another erotic work, found on the verso of a foglio in the Atlantic Codex,
depicts il Salaino’s behind, towards which march several penises on two
legs (Augusto Marinoni, in "Io Leonardo", Mondadori, Milano 1974,
pp.288, 310). Some of Leonardo’s other works on erotic topics, his
drawings of heterosexual human sexual intercourse, were destroyed by a
priest who found them after his death.

In 1506, Leonardo met Count Francesco Melzi, the 15 year old son of a Lombard aristocrat. Melzi himself, in a letter, described Leonardo’s feelings towards him as a sviscerato et ardentissimo amore
("a deeply passionate and most burning love"). (Crompton, p.269) Salai
eventually accepted Melzi’s continued presence and the three undertook
journeys throughout Italy. Melzi became Leonardo’s pupil and life
companion, and is considered to have been his favourite student.

Though Salai was always introduced as Leonardo’s "pupil", the
artistic merit of his work has been a matter of debate. He is credited
with a nude portrait of Lisa del Gioconda, known as Monna Vanna, painted in 1515 under the name of Andrea Salai.[11] The other portrait of Lisa del Gioconda, the Mona Lisa was bequeathed to Salai by Leonardo, a valuable piece even then, as it is valued in Salai’s own will at £200,000.

Both of these relationships follow the pattern of eroticized
apprenticeships which were frequent in the Florence of Leonardo’s day,
relationships which were often loving and not infrequently sexual. (See
Historical pederastic couples.)
Besides them, Leonardo had many other friends who are figures now
renowned in their fields, or for their influence on history. These
included Cesare Borgia, in whose service he spent the years of 1502 and 1503. During that time he also met Niccolò Machiavelli, with whom later he was to develop a close friendship. Also among his friends are counted Franchinus Gaffurius and Isabella d’Este, whose portrait he drew while on a journey which took him through Mantua. (Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendships epigraph, p. 148 & N120 p.298)

In fiction

Main article: Leonardo da Vinci in fiction

With the genius and legacy of Leonardo da Vinci having captivated
authors and scholars generations after his death, many examples of "Da
Vinci (sic.) fiction" can be found in culture and literature.

Leonard of Quirm, a character in the Discworld series of novels, is based largely on Leonardo da Vinci.

Interest in Leonardo has increased recently with Dan Brown’s popular novel The Da Vinci Code (2003).

sigh…assignments…assignments…sigh…today hwahwa woke up at 7am…slept for 10 hours…still not enough sleep…slept back and woke up at 7.30a.m….muahahhaha…was late for class…

now…hwahwa gonna change blog…google…here hwahwa come

sigh………so tiring…have to complete CFA assignment…slept only for 2 hours…want to express all the tiredness in this blog but guess what…too tired to say much…adios

sigh…SIGH
KESIAN HWAHWA
hwahwa held hostage…sigh…dunno what to do liao la…tersepit in between 2 forces…pretend dunno only la…muahahahhahaha
only bomoh understands what hwahwa is saying…kesian hwahwa…
well, too many assignments to do to bother about World War 3

Well…many events have taken place since the last time hwahwa wrote. Well, sigh, kesian hwahwa…kena buli. Bomoh, help hwahwa! Too many to tell that hwahwa forgot what hwahwa want to write! >.<

One of the stories were that hwahwa and bomoh are able to unlock vampire’s room. Yesterday night, vampire bugged hwahwa to unlock other rooms…sigh! speechless…in the end, hwahwa didn’t unlock it… overall, life’s a torture with vampire around…must eat more garlic liao…hahaha…

schoolwork is also tiring…just can’t managed to chuck all the finance stuff into the head…already got poor memory…sigh…dunno wat to do… @.@

that’s all for now! busy ah…

1.If you understand, say "understand". If you don’t
understand, say "don’t understand". But if you
understand and say "don’t understand".How do I
understand that you understand? Understand!

2.I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if
you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won’t wish
the wish you wish to wish.

3.Sounding by sound is a sound method of
sounding sounds.

4.A sailor went to sea to see, what he could see.
And all he   could see was sea, sea, sea.

5.Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People,
Purple Paper People

6.If two witches were watching two watches, which
witch would watch which watch?

7.I thought a thought.But the thought I thought
wasn’t the thought   I thought I thought. If the
thought I thought I thought had been  the thought I
thought, I wouldn’t have thought so much.

8.Once a fellow met a fellow In a field of beans.
Said a fellow to a fellow, "If a fellow asks a fellow,
Can a fellow tell a fellow What a fellow means?"

9.Mr Inside went over to see Mr Outside. Mr Inside
stood outside and called to MrOutside inside. Mr
Outside answered Mr Inside from inside and Told
Mr Inside to come inside. Mr Inside said "NO", and
told Mr Outside to come outside. MrOutside and
Mr Inside argued from inside and outside about
going outside or coming inside. Finally, Mr Outside
coaxed Mr Inside to come inside, then both Mr
Outside and Mr Inside went outside to the riverside.

10.SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS ON THE SEA
SHORE , BUT THE SEA SHELLS THAT SHE
SELLS, ON THE SEA SHORE ARE NOT THE
REAL ONES

11.The owner of the inside inn was inside his
inside inn with his inside outside his inside inn.

12.If one doctor doctors another doctor does the
doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor
the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or
does the doctor doctor the way the doctor who
doctors doctors?

"When a doctor falls ill another doctor doctor’s the
doctor. Does the doctor doctoring the doctor
doctor the doctor in his own way or does the
doctor doctoring the doctor doctors the doctor in
the doctor’s way"

13.We surely shall see the sun shine shortly.
Whether the weather be fine, Or whether the
weather be not, Whether the weather be cold Or
whether the weather be hot, We’ll weather the
weather Whatever the weather, Whether we like it
or not. watch? Whether the weather is hot.
Whether the weather is cold. Whether the weather
is either or not. It is  whether we like it or not.

14.Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.

15.A flea and a fly in a flue Said the fly "Oh what
should we do" Said the flea" Let us fly Said the
fly"Let us flee" So they flew through a flaw in the
flue

16.If you tell Tom to tell a tongue-twister his
tongue will be twisted as tongue-twister twists
tongues.

17.Mr. See owned a saw.And Mr. Soar owned a
seesaw. Now See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw
Before Soar saw See,  Which made Soar sore.Had
Soar seen See’s saw Before See sawed Soar’s
seesaw, See’s saw would not have sawed Soar’s
seesaw. So See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw.But
it was sad to see Soar so sore Just because See’s
saw sawed  Soar’s seesaw

HAHAHAH…had a bet with bomoh just now…who lose will have to say ‘I Love You, King Kong!’. The bet was about me guessing Vampire is out whilst bomoh guessed that Vampire is in his room, just that his lights are out…muahahhaha…luckily hwahwa won the bet! ngek ngek ngek…so, just now bomoh went to do just as lost. She went up to King Kong who is eating rice on the staircase, asking, ‘What song got the words ‘I LOVE YOU!’ har?’ muahahhahaa….bomoh kept on repeating the word I LOVE YOU in front of him…so funny!!! then, hwahwa corrected her by saying, ’should be I LOVE YOU KING KONG….muahhahaha…so, bomoh went on asking, ‘Are there any songs with the phrase I LOVE YOU KING KONG?!’ MUAHAHAHHAAH….soooooooooo funny…kekekekeke
oh ya….about the case where hwahwa rename all the files and folders in vampire’s PC, well, hwahwa forgot to log-off friendster when using his computer. Seems that he changed hwahwa’s friendster profile…in the end…muahhahaha…victory is hwahwa’s….he forgot to save wor…ekekekekeek…..sooooooooooooooooo cool! hahahhahaha

kesian hwahwa…*sob*sob* the night before yesterday, not enough sleep…vampire bully little hwahwa lor…bite hwahwa’s finger some more (actually it is untrue…muahahhaha)…hwahwa’s finger still aching…kesian hwahwa…vampire kacau hwahwa eat lunch some more…kesian hwahwa…dinner also…always oso say hwahwa very noisy…kesian hwahwa….boohoohoo!!!!!
sigh…vampire said he revenged against hwahwa already wor (cos hwahwa changed all his file names)…but hwahwa din feel the revenge also @.@
weird…most probably he didn’t do anything…he said that he is angry at hwahwa for changing all his filenames wor but…dunno real or not… most probably tipu wan…if it is true, hwahwa feels bad…so far, nobody is angry at hwahwa’s pranks….especially uncle ducky gary…buahahahahha…
well, that’s all for now…a bit busy…those who read hwahwa’s blog, feel free to comment. it would be nice for you people to drop a note so that hwahwa knows who read the blog (hwahwa would love to know who read hwahwa’s blog)