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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Borghesi Clock


The Borghesi Astronomical Clock

In the Museum of History and Technology





Excerpt:


     The history of the 18th-century Borghesi astronomical clock is
     described here from contemporary source material. The evolution
     of its design by Father Francesco Borghesi and the building of
     the complex mechanism devised by the clockmaker, Bartolomeo
     Antonio Bertolla, is a story of the vision of one man turned
     into reality by another. The result of their collaboration is
     the unique, astronomical timepiece now in the Museum of History
     and Technology._

     THE AUTHOR: _Silvio A. Bedini is curator of mechanical and
     civil engineering in the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of
     History and Technology._


     "... All this work I had performed eagerly, so that, while in
     my room, I might contemplate leisurely, both during the day and
     in the night, the true face of the heavens and of the seas
     unobscured by clouds, even though I had no astronomical
     equipment."[1]

With these words, Father Francesco Borghesi (1723-1802) of Mechel
described the reasons which inspired him to invent a unique astronomical
clock which is now in the horological collection of the Museum of
History and Technology.

This complicated mechanism, which performs a multitude of functions, was
designed by Father Francesco Borghesi, a secular priest in Venezia
Tridentina. It was constructed in 1764 under his direction by a
provincial clockmaker named Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla (1702-1789) of
Mocenigo di Rumo. It was the second of two complicated astronomical
clocks which Father Borghesi designed and which Bertolla constructed.
According to contemporary sources, this clock was presented to the
Empress Maria Theresa of Austria soon after its completion.

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