Night, astronomical and alarm clocks

Night, astronomical and alarm clocks: clocks become interesting to the Italians when they have more to offer than just the time.

Reproduction par Luigi Pippa de l'horloge astronomique-épicycloïdale réalisée par Giovanni Dondi en 1348-1364. Collection privée.

Italians are hardly sticklers for precision. They prefer aesthetics. This is why, when it comes to clocks and watches, their ornamental style is so easily recognisable. But more than that, a clock only becomes interesting when it is able to do something other than tell the time. 

The finest cases 

In Italy, the chief source of artistic inspiration was the Church. They drew on Roman mythology and nature themes. An element that was found both pictorially and formally in horology. Example: night clocks. Developed in Rome around 1680 by the Campani brothers, these gave rise to some of the finest cases in existence. Thanks partly to the emergence of the dial which provided a wide space for pictorial decoration. And thanks also to their style as small, often richly decorated, Baroque alters. As beautiful masterpieces, these clocks would gradually replace the "lantern" type clocks previously much appreciated throughout the country. 

That said, the interest in night clocks does not lie in their appearance alone. Their mechanism attests to an aspiration to make timekeepers more complete instruments. In response to the need to see the time in the dark, a semi-circular aperture was arranged beneath the dial in which a disc moved to display the current hour. Openwork numerals and time fractions on a lamp placed inside the case made it possible to read the time against the light. 

The tamed sky 

The most important astronomical clocks, however, were the work of Italians as early as the 13th and 14th centuries. The one known by the name of Astrarium (or Planetarium) by Giovanni Dondi (1318-1389) is the most famous among them. Completed in 1364 after sixteen years of labour, the Astrarium was the first instrument to combine the functions of a clock with those of a celestial calculator. As well as displaying the hours, the variable length of the day according to the seasons, sidereal time, the date and Dominical letter, it also provided information on the cycles and movements of the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars! Such extraordinary complexity contained within an astonishingly compact form for the time. It should be said that this clock was intended for domestic use. 

Alarm clocks, too, were developed mainly in Italy. We might add a number of additional minor features such as Zodiac information, display of canonical time or silent escapements. Although France, England and Germany admittedly produced wonders in this domain, Italy fully deserved to be ahead of them. 

Immersion in Barocci's workshop 

The initiated could consult, among others, the work of Roberto Panicali entitled "Sixteenth century Italian chamber clocks and the Urbino school", published by QuattroVenti. A rewarding and painstaking survey of what made the State of the Duchy of Urbino world-renowned. Through an analysis of the 16th century clocks that have survived to this day, we become immersed in Barocci's lively workshop, in discovery of a sadly unknown world. This book is available for consultation at History of Science Museum in Geneva. 

History of Science Museum, 128, rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, tel. (022) 731 69 85. mah.ville-ge.ch

"Sixteenth century Italian chamber clocks and the Urbino school", Roberto Panicali, publisher QuattroVenti, 1988.