s. Maria Novella
Title: s. Maria Novella And, from a helper and pal, this collection of dial and armillary images from all over the church: http://tinyurl.com/3turb -- B
Re: Danti's numbers
Hello, Thank you very much for all your help. I really do appreciate the time you have taken to respond to my query. I am new to the world of sundials and I would definitely be doing lots of research on them. Thanks for the books you recommended too. Divine Kumah 270 West Hall University Of Michigan Ann Arbor Quoting Sara Schechner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Hurray to Gianni for figuring out which instrument Ms. Kumahs was inquiring > about! Nice transcription and explanation for those who are unfamiliar > with it! > > Sara > > - > > > -
new version of software SONNE
Dear fellow dialists, I put the new version 2.1 of my software SONNE on my webpage (the address is below). Also the final version of StundLin, which does the "Recalculation" for vertical sundials, discussed in this list some months ago, is there. Have fun and if you find bugs or errors please let me know. Helmut Sonderegger Sonnengasse 24, A-6800 Feldkirch47.25 N, 9.59 OHomepage: http://web.utanet.at/sondereh
Re: Danti's numbers
about! Nice transcription and explanation for those who are unfamiliar with it! Sara -
Re: S. Maria Novella
Title: Re: S. Maria Novella This from John Lynes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> who has asked me to pass it on, writing me that "I'd like to share this with the Sundial Mailing List, but for reasons which elude me I am not permitted to do so from the above email address because my sundial messages come to a forwarding address [EMAIL PROTECTED] from which I cannot send outgoing mail." *** "You'll find the explanation in an article by Giovanni Paltrinieri 'The "astronomical quadrant of Santa Maria Novella in Florence: planetary and "canonical hours'. Bulletin of the British Sundial Society 91.2, July 1991. "His translation of the lettering on the east side of the supporting bracket "is - "By diligent observation, the distance between the Tropics is found to be 46 deg 57' 39" 50', and the Obliquity of the Ecliptic is thus 23 deg 28' 49' 55'" "Not sure I can understand this, but I get the general drift." -- [BT]
Re: dial security
You're right to think that any 17th century dial is at risk if left outside - not just by theft but also by continuing erosion by acid rain. The correct thing to do is to move the original dial inside the house where it can be properly secured and looked after. It could be replaced outside by either a replica or a copy/reproduction:- replica: an exact copy made by making a silicone mould from the original and using that as a basis for moulding a bronze/brass resin version. copy or reproduction: redesigned and made from scratch in brass/bronze, using measurements and photographs of the original as the basis for the design. The former is likely to be cheaper but not as long-lasting as the latter. The replica will match the existing condition of the original (down to the smallest scratch) but the colour of the patination is difficult to match exactly. The reproduction/copy will look more like the original did when it was new. At the risk of posting a commercial, I could produce either form if required! Regards, JohnFrank Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Greetings fellow dialists,I am seeking advice about a country house pedestal dial of the seventeenthcentury. It is a valuable dial by a known maker and stands in the estategrounds, which are open to the public. The administrator of the estate isaware that the dial is at risk of theft and has asked for advice. EnglishHeritage (an official body) have been consulted. They felt that the dial wasin its "proper place" and should not be moved but they, too, felt the riskof theft was present.The administrator has asked me to advise them and is aware that some costwould accrue in protecting the dial. They wonder, perhaps, whether a copymight be created and what would be involved. Or any other suggestion thatwould be helpful.Can anyone help? If you would prefer to send me a private message that wouldbe OK.Frank 55N 1W[EMAIL PROTECTED]---Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).Version: 6.0.749 / Virus Database: 501 - Release Date: 01/09/2004-Dr J R DavisFlowton DialsN52d 08m: E1d 05m
Danti's numbers
Dantis numbers. On the facade of the church of Saint Maria Novella in Florence, Egnazio Danti in 1572 designed and put an elaborate astronomical instrument from him called Il quadrante Astronomico di Claudio Tolomeo (The Astronomical quadrant of Claude Ptolemy), an armillary sphere and 4 sundials. The quadrant was so called by Danti because it was described by Ptolemy in the Almagest. It is made by a plate of marble, with sides of 154 cm and 146.5 cm and with a thickness of around 8 cm, fixed perpendicular to the facade of the church, that is turned toward South: the two sides are therefore faced East and West. The quadrant was set at around 7 m. of height, was supported on a marble bracket and brought two horizontal gnomons set in proximity of the higher South vertexes of the faces. The instrument had been built for measuring the height of the Sun in its passage across the meridian (the Suns rays are in this condition tangent to the faces) : from this measure, made on the Equinoxes, it is possible to calculate the value of the Ecliptic inclination. It also contains 3 solar clocks with Babilonic hours (counted from dawn), Italic hours (counted from sunset) and Astronomical hours (counted from noon). Today the quadrant has been moved and it is no more in its original position: I don't know for what reason (perhaps for a restoration), when it was removed and where it is. The bracket that sustained the quadrant is formed by two parts, one on the other. The superior part contains on the West side a writing in which Danti devotes the tool to the Tuscany grad duke Cosimo I. It says : COSM. MED. MAGN. ETR. DUX NOBILIUM ARTIUM STU DIOSUS ASTRONOMIAE STUDIOSIS DEDIT ANNO D. MDLXXII On the East side there is the writing where we may read the numbers that are of interest to Divine Kumahs. DILIGETI OBSERVATIONE PERSPEC TA TROPICOR DISTANZIA G. XLVI. LVII. XXXIX. L. ET ANGULO SECTIONIS G. XXIII. XXVIII. V. LV. That means : with industrious observations (I find) the distance between the Tropics (that is) 46° 57 39 50 and the angle of the section, (that is) 23° 28 49 55 These numbers give, in the pure sexagesimal notation used by Ptolemy and also by Danti, the value of the ecliptic obliquity and his double. The angles are given writing the number of the degrees, of the arc minutes (primi), of the arc seconds (secundi) and of arc thirds (terti). Then 23° 28 49 55 = 23° + 28/60 +49/(60x60) + 55/(60x60x60) = 23.480532° with the precision (supposed, but not true) of 1 "tertius" = 1/60 of arc second , about 5 millionth of degree. Modern calculations give for the value of the ecliptic inclination in 1572 the value 23.4948 = 23° 2941.3 : the error of Danti is about 51. In the lowest part of the bracket, under the writings, we find two sundials facing East and West with French hours (or as Danti writes ore Franzesi), that is with the hours counted from midnight ( as in our local solar time). On the facade of the church, that faces South, there are another two sundials on the sides of the Quadrant: one with seasonal hours (Danti writes unequal or Planetary hours), the other with Canonical hours (system used by the monks of the monasteries in the Middle Ages). All the information that I have reported come from two books written by the well known Italian dialist Giovanni Paltrinieri: the beautiful book Meridiane e orologi solari dItalia (Sundials and solar clocks of Italy) and a small but precious booklet with only 34 pages, in which Paltrinieri describes completely the sundials and the quadrant of Danti, departing from the volume Trattato delluso e della fabbrica dellastrolabio (Treatise on the use and on the making of the astrolabe ) written by Egnazio Danti in 1569. If someone has interested I can send 4 photos of the sundials , taken on June 8th 2004 : the images are enough heavy (about 500-700 kb each) Gianni Ferrari
S. Maria Novella
http://tinyurl.com/5pdz7 The photo may show up either on that page or in my e-mail; if so, I'll pass it on. -- B -
dial security
Greetings fellow dialists, I am seeking advice about a country house pedestal dial of the seventeenth century. It is a valuable dial by a known maker and stands in the estate grounds, which are open to the public. The administrator of the estate is aware that the dial is at risk of theft and has asked for advice. English Heritage (an official body) have been consulted. They felt that the dial was in its "proper place" and should not be moved but they, too, felt the risk of theft was present. The administrator has asked me to advise them and is aware that some cost would accrue in protecting the dial. They wonder, perhaps, whether a copy might be created and what would be involved. Or any other suggestion that would be helpful. Can anyone help? If you would prefer to send me a private message that would be OK. Frank 55N 1W [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.749 / Virus Database: 501 - Release Date: 01/09/2004 -
Kirkdale Mass Dial
Hello Frank and all, We have discussed on this list the mass dial on the old Saxon church, St Gregory's Minster, Kirkland, North Yorkshire. See http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kroch/scand/kirkdale.html and click on the picture for the slide show. I visited the church and took pictures of the dial over twenty years ago but did not realize until today that there was a personal connection. The inscription notes that Orm, Gamal's son, was the benefactor who rebuilt the church and sundial about 1055 AD, before the Norman Conquest. I learned today from Ronald Ormerod's website www.ormerod.uk.net that Orm was the primogenitor of the Ormerod family. My wife's maiden name is Ormerod and she is from Lancashire where this name is common, but rare in the rest of the world. As I have often said, "Everything I've needed to know, I've learned from sundials". Regards, Roger Bailey -
