Accession No
1737
Brief Description
horizontal hour arc dial, Italian, late 16th century
Origin
Italy; Florence
Maker
Class
dials
Earliest Date
1570
Latest Date
1600
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel); glass
Dimensions
d 78 mm; compass d 20 mm
Special Collection
Holden-White collection
Provenance
On loan from The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Donated by Charles Holden-White to the Fitzwilliam Museum. C. Holden-White collection, no. 1937-91.
Inscription
‘CVM COELVM ASPICIO QVAM MIHI SORDET HVMVS’ [WHEN I BEHOLD THE HEAVENS HOW VILE A THING THE EARTH SEEMS TO ME] (inside lid)
Description Notes
Brass disc set in case with push fit domed lid, inside of lid carries painted decoration and inscription. Dial plate with pin gnomon and straight hour lines for Italian hours divided X - XXIII, numbered by I with both tropics and equator marked. Inset compass with meridian line, surrounded on the dial plate by a 16 point rose, 8 points labelled in Italian; scroll beneath the compass ‘AEL. POL. GR XXXXII. M.XXXX’ [latitude 42˚ 40´]; brass wind vane with steel mast screws into dial plate.
References
Events
Description
Sundials were invented around 1500 BCE in Ancient Babylon and were in regular use until the 1830s when the development of railways made a more accurate measure of time necessary. This sundial was created in Florence, Italy around the year 1600 using brass. The dial is marked with the hours, the equator, and the tropics. The small flag would have screwed in place to act as a weather vane. The inside of the lid has been painted and bears the inscription “CVM COELVM ASPICIO MIHI SORDET HVMVS” which translates to “When I behold the heavens how vile a thing the Earth seems to me”.
[Label written by work experience Jack in 2019]
26/09/2022
Created by: Morgan Bell on 26/09/2022
FM:39817
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