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St Mark's Clock
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St Mark's Clock
St Mark's Clock is housed in the Clock Tower on the Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square) in Venice, Italy, adjoining the Procuratie Vecchie. The first clock housed in the tower was built and installed by Gian Paolo and Gian Carlo Ranieri, father and son, between 1496 and 1499, and was one of a number of large public astronomical clocks erected throughout Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. The clock has had an eventful horological history, and been the subject of many restorations, some controversial.
After restorations in 1551 by Giuseppe Mazzoleni, and in 1615, by Giovanni Battista Santi, the clock mechanism was almost completely replaced in the 1750s, by Bartolomeo Ferracina. In 1858 the clock was restored by Luigi De Lucia. In 1996, a major restoration, undertaken by Giuseppe Brusa and Alberto Gorla, was the subject of controversy, amid claims of unsympathetic restoration and poor workmanship.
In 1493, the Venetian Republic commissioned Giovan Paolo Ranieri to make a clock movement. He had already constructed clocks in his home town of Reggio Emilia in 1481. Construction of the tower started in 1496, and by December 1497 the great bell had been completed by Simone Camponato and installed on the top, with the two bronze figures of shepherds, each 2.5m high, who hit the bell with hammers. These figures are referred to as Moors because of the dark colour of the bronze patina. Paolo died in 1498 and his son Gian Carlo completed the work.
The clock was inaugurated on February 1, 1497. Driven by weights, with a foliot escapement, the clock controlled both the bell-ringing shepherds on the tower, who would have rung the bell between 1 and 24 times to sound the Italian hours, and a carousel which showed the procession of the Magi, preceded by an angel blowing a trumpet.
The dial was a concentric-ring astronomical clock similar to the clock of the Torre dell'Orologio, Padua of 1434, rather than the astrolabe type with offset zodiac dial, as found at Prague. The 24 hours of the day were marked, in Roman numerals, around the edge, with I at the right-hand side, and marked Italian hours. The relative positions of five planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury) were shown, as were the moon's phases and the position of the Sun in the zodiac. The four circular windows around the dial may have contained astrolabe-type devices or orreries.
The Venetian Government paid Ranieri and his family to live in the Clock Tower and maintain the clock in good order. He was the first clock-keeper or 'temperatore', and this post continued to be filled, often by different generations of the same family, until 1998.
Repairs and restorations have been frequent. In 1550 there were accusations that some of the gears had been stolen and sold.
In 1752 Bartolomeo Ferracina started work on replacing the clock, having successfully tendered for the job in public competition. He installed a new movement, removed the planetary dials, installed a rotating moon ball to show the phase, and changed the numbering of the clock face from the old Italian style (I to XXIIII in Roman numerals) to the 12-hour style, using two sets of Arabic numerals, with 12 at the top and bottom of the dial. He received the old mechanism and dial as part of his payment.
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St Mark's Clock
St Mark's Clock is housed in the Clock Tower on the Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square) in Venice, Italy, adjoining the Procuratie Vecchie. The first clock housed in the tower was built and installed by Gian Paolo and Gian Carlo Ranieri, father and son, between 1496 and 1499, and was one of a number of large public astronomical clocks erected throughout Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. The clock has had an eventful horological history, and been the subject of many restorations, some controversial.
After restorations in 1551 by Giuseppe Mazzoleni, and in 1615, by Giovanni Battista Santi, the clock mechanism was almost completely replaced in the 1750s, by Bartolomeo Ferracina. In 1858 the clock was restored by Luigi De Lucia. In 1996, a major restoration, undertaken by Giuseppe Brusa and Alberto Gorla, was the subject of controversy, amid claims of unsympathetic restoration and poor workmanship.
In 1493, the Venetian Republic commissioned Giovan Paolo Ranieri to make a clock movement. He had already constructed clocks in his home town of Reggio Emilia in 1481. Construction of the tower started in 1496, and by December 1497 the great bell had been completed by Simone Camponato and installed on the top, with the two bronze figures of shepherds, each 2.5m high, who hit the bell with hammers. These figures are referred to as Moors because of the dark colour of the bronze patina. Paolo died in 1498 and his son Gian Carlo completed the work.
The clock was inaugurated on February 1, 1497. Driven by weights, with a foliot escapement, the clock controlled both the bell-ringing shepherds on the tower, who would have rung the bell between 1 and 24 times to sound the Italian hours, and a carousel which showed the procession of the Magi, preceded by an angel blowing a trumpet.
The dial was a concentric-ring astronomical clock similar to the clock of the Torre dell'Orologio, Padua of 1434, rather than the astrolabe type with offset zodiac dial, as found at Prague. The 24 hours of the day were marked, in Roman numerals, around the edge, with I at the right-hand side, and marked Italian hours. The relative positions of five planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury) were shown, as were the moon's phases and the position of the Sun in the zodiac. The four circular windows around the dial may have contained astrolabe-type devices or orreries.
The Venetian Government paid Ranieri and his family to live in the Clock Tower and maintain the clock in good order. He was the first clock-keeper or 'temperatore', and this post continued to be filled, often by different generations of the same family, until 1998.
Repairs and restorations have been frequent. In 1550 there were accusations that some of the gears had been stolen and sold.
In 1752 Bartolomeo Ferracina started work on replacing the clock, having successfully tendered for the job in public competition. He installed a new movement, removed the planetary dials, installed a rotating moon ball to show the phase, and changed the numbering of the clock face from the old Italian style (I to XXIIII in Roman numerals) to the 12-hour style, using two sets of Arabic numerals, with 12 at the top and bottom of the dial. He received the old mechanism and dial as part of his payment.
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