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He wasn’t very experienced in this area and had failed several times before. Either he misunderstood the layers or cut too deep, directly severing the texture.
A smile requires the activation of dozens of muscles in the face.
At one point, he kept touching his face, repeatedly smiling many times.
Not just the muscles around his lips—but also the muscles in the cheeks, cheekbones, and even near the eyes—would all be involved and change accordingly.
Painting was both incredibly tedious and profoundly simple.
As the artist, Leonardo hoped that he could present everything from the bones to the muscles, revealing the innermost essence on the surface.
What he painted appeared to be merely a skin layer, but it actually contained the dynamic movement of muscles and bones.
And those who viewed the painting may not necessarily understand the various secrets hidden within.
Even so, he would still dive into the tomb of corpses, lying with truth.
Hedy was actually somewhat reserved about such things. She brought him some wine and water and reminded him to return early, urging him not to stay in such places for too long.
She had heard that in these remote areas, there were even reports of people encountering wild beasts.
After the farewell, Hedy returned to the riverside workshop and began confirming the purification process settings.
The boiler room occupied four or five rooms in total, with four pools and several pipes installed.
The first pool was the clean water sedimentation pool. The waterwheel took advantage of the height difference in the terrain to continuously channel river water into the pool. This pool was used to settle various debris, such as stones, water plants, and gravel, and a dedicated person would be hired to regularly dredge and clean it.
The second pool was the charcoal adsorption pool.
She wasn’t quite sure what material would be best for adsorption, so she had asked a specialist to gather a lot of information and conduct comparative experiments. Hedy had never participated in such work before, but she was naturally clever and imaginative, always interested in mixing and innovating different concepts.
Charcoal had been used as a medicinal substance by the Egyptians over 1,500 years ago. A thousand years later, Greek doctors used it to treat epilepsy. But when added to murky water, it also had a noticeable effect.
Alum was just as effective as charcoal. In fact, it had a stronger clarifying function, and its yield was considerably larger. There was an alum mine to the northwest of Florence, which had previously seen small-scale disputes over ownership. However, when alum was soaked in water, it gave off a faintly sour odor, as though it had gone bad.
Hedy was also unsure if alum was toxic, so in the end, she chose to use charcoal to adsorb the other impurities.
Between the second and third pools, there were movable pipes, each holding layer after layer of filtration mesh. Fabrics like gauze were placed in multiple layers for filtering. The water from the second pool naturally flowed slowly, blocking all the small insects, fine sand, and other particles that charcoal couldn't absorb.
The filtration system needed to be changed about once a month, but after actual testing, it worked quite well.
Whether from the river or the well, both sources of water had issues with parasites and bacteria.
—No wonder the ancient people of the East preferred drinking tea.
Hedy confirmed the size of the boiler and sighed in relief.
The Medici family was generous with famous paintings, and when it came to practical needs like this, they were equally generous. They had purchased enough fuel to supply the furnace, which continuously heated the filtered river water according to the diversion system drawn by Da Vinci.
The hot water was split into two streams. One part flowed into new-style iron kettles with inner linings, where it was kept at an insulated temperature to provide ample bathwater for theadults in the palace. The other part flowed into a heat dissipation pool, which maintained a semi-vacuum state. It had a faucet for drawing water, providing the purified and disinfected water at room temperature for drinking.
Her original idea had low feasibility, but luckily, Da Vinci spent an afternoon drawing the entire set of facilities clearly and even added several clever small designs.
As a painter, he only needed to showcase his skills in portraiture to gain recognition and praise from many people. However, with each of Hedy's new inventions, Da Vinci's engineering and mechanical skills were revealed, earning him the lord’s attention and favor.
He not only helped the Florence Academy write treatises on various cells but also improved the microscope, making it more flexible and precise.
From 20x magnification to 80x, and from 80x to 120x.
