Greetings,
1. Paintings with dials
I am amazed that anyone could see phallic overtones in the rather
sweet painting of Beatrix. And my (25 year old) son insists that I am
obsessed with sex. Oh well, it is all in the eye of the beholder!
Holbein's "The Ambassadors" has several dials and other instruments.
For a good in-depth discussion on this painting, look at:
Aked, CK 1995 The Ambassadors. Bulletin of the British Sundial
Society 95.3, pp. 4-11.
2. BIG dials
re the "big sundial" at Singleton, NSW: Although I go through
Singleton about once or twice a year, I have never really stopped and
looked at this dial in any detail. I have SEEN it, and it was not all
that impressive. The site seemed to be very small, and the dial
did not seem to be appropriate for the site. But that was a quick
impression. By "not appropriate" I mean aesthetically, rather
than mathematically. I am quite sure that it is gnomically
correct. Anyway, the next time I go past, I will look a bit more
closely, and report to the group.
Of course, EVERY town in NSW has some "big" object as a tourist
attraction: Prawn (shrimp to those in USA), merino ( a sheep), bull,
banana, oyster, potato (in the town where the movie "Babe" was
filmed), etc. Kitsch and poor taste is raised to an art form in parts
of Australia. I suppose that we could have an
international competition to see who has the grossest big item!! No,
just joking.
Cheers, John
Dr John Pickard
Senior Lecturer, Environmental Planning
Graduate School of the Environment
Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9850 7981 (work)
+ 61 2 9482 8647 (home)
Fax + 61 2 9850 7972 (work)
