Federigo, Vincenzo Antonio, Ludovico Zuccari (
Isola di Sora
Isola del Liri (simply known as ''Isola Liri'', Campanian: ) is an Italian town of Lazio, Italy, in the province of Frosinone. As its name implies, Isola is situated between two arms of the Liri. The many waterfalls of this river and of the Fibre ...
, 26 August 1783 – Barra (Naples), 15 December 1817) was an Italian astronomer, professor of
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
at the
Naples University
The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...
, professor of Mathematical Geography at the Military Academy of Naples and director of the
Astronomical Observatory of Naples.
He studied in Naples and Rome, also becoming passionate about literature and fine arts. In 1807 he was appointed professor of spherical trigonometry and mathematical geography at the
Real Scuola della Nunziatella. After the death of
Ferdinando Messia de Prado, Zuccari was sent, in 1809, by King
Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
to Milan at the
Brera Observatory
The Brera Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera) is an astronomical observatory in the Brera district of Milan, Italy. It was built in the historic Palazzo Brera in 1764 by the Jesuit astronomer Roger Boscovich. Following the suppre ...
to specialize in Astronomy with
Barnaba Oriani
Barnaba Oriani FRS FRSE (17 July 1752 – 12 November 1832) was an Italian priest, geodesist, astronomer and scientist.
Life
Oriani was born in Garegnano (now part of Milan), the son of a mason, and died in Milan.
After getting his elemen ...
.
On 17 August 1811 Murat sent him back to Naples, appointing him director of the Observatory located at the ancient monastery of San Gaudioso.
In 1812 the government agreed to the request by Zuccari to erect a new building for the Observatory on Miradois hill near the
Royal Palace of Capodimonte. Together with the architect Stefano Gasse he designed a majestic building in
neoclassical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...
whose first stone was laid on 4 November 1812.
After the death of Zuccari, the original project was partially modified by
Giuseppe Piazzi
Giuseppe Piazzi ( , ; 16 July 1746 – 22 July 1826) was an Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer. He established an observatory at Palermo, now the '' Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo – Giuseppe ...
to make the spaces more functional.
With the few instruments available, at the observatory of San Gaudioso he made observations of the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
, lunar and solar
eclipses
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
and made a long series of measurements of
stellar positions. This star catalog was never published for the astronomer's untimely death.
In 1815 he took his nephew
Ernesto Capocci
Ernesto Capocci Belmonte (Picinisco, 31 March 1798 – Naples, 6 January 1864) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer and politician.
From 1815 he was a pupil at the Astronomical Observatory of Naples directed by his uncle Federigo Zuccari ...
as a pupil with whom he also made
meteorological observations.
He was a member of the Imperiale e Reale Ateneo Italiano (1810), of the Academy of Sciences of Naples (1811), of the
Pontaniana Academy (1812), of the
Royal Institute of Encouragement (1812) and knight of the
Royal Order of the Two-Sicilies
The Royal Order of the Two-Sicilies ( it, Ordine reale delle Due Sicilie) was a dynastic order of knighthood of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. The order was established 24 February 1808 by Joseph Bonaparte, who, at the time ...
(c. 1814).
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
Federigo Zuccari Stardust: the cultural heritage of Italian astronomy
L'astronomo Gentile Documentary exhibition on the astronomer Federigo Zuccari founder of the Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory on the 200th anniversary of his death
1783 births
1817 deaths
19th-century Italian astronomers
Scientists from Naples
{{Italy-astronomer-stub