Torre Dell'Orologio, Brescia
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The Torre dell'Orologio () is a 16th-century building located in the
Piazza della Loggia Piazza della Loggia, or more simply Piazza Loggia, also known as Piazza Grande or Piazza Vecchia (''Piàsa dela Lògia'' or ''Piàsa ècia'' in Brescian, Brescian dialect), is one of the Italian city Brescia's main squares, a symbolic place of t ...
in
Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...
, northern
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.


History

The tower was constructed between 1540 and 1550 to the design of Ludovico Beretta, a Brescian architect and one of the designers of the Palazzo della Loggia. In 1543 the present clock replaced the one built in the previous century. It houses a complex astronomical clock installed by Paolo Gennari from Rezzato between 1544 and 1546. The clock-face was realised by Gian Giacomo Lamberti in 1547, while the automatons, the ''Macc de le ure'', were installed in 1581.


Description

The chapter ring of the dial is divided into twenty-four hours. The hour hand, which carries a golden sun, indicates the hour, and the Sun's position in the
zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...
and the date on a ring inside the chapter ring. The centre of the dial shows the age and phase of the Moon, with lines indicating
astrological aspect In astrology, an aspect is an angle that Planets in astrology, planets make to each other in the horoscope; as well as to the Ascendant, Midheaven, descendant (astrology), Descendant, Imum coeli, Lower Midheaven, and other points of astrological ...
s. The clock visibly predates the Gregorian calendar reform in 1582 that suppressed ten days of the previous calendar: the position of the spring equinox is set to 11 March instead of 21 March. Above the dial is a painted fresco of Saturn or
Chronos Chronos (; ; , Modern Greek: ), also spelled Chronus, is a personification of time in Greek mythology, who is also discussed in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature. Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified ...
, the personification of time. The tower is topped with a bronze bell, which has engravings depicting the
Madonna and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...
, Christ crucified, the Patron saints, the lion rampant, the patrons Faustino and Giovita and the coat of arms of the creator Nicola Cattaneo. The two copper jacquemarts, which are driven by the clock mechanism and strike the hours, were installed in 1581.as stated in an inscription on the bell In Brescian dialect they are known as the "Màcc de le ure" (the madmen of the hours) or "Tone and Batista", a nickname acquired following the French Revolution. The clock's main dial and its tympanum were painted by Gian Giacomo Lamberti in 1547. A second dial, at the back of the tower overlooking the Via Beccaria, indicates only the hour. Its designer is unidentified. In 1595 the Brescian architect Piermaria Bagnadore built a long portico in white stone. Afterwards, the passage underneath the tower, connecting the Piazza della Loggia with the Via Beccaria and the Piazza Paolo VI, was constructed by Lodovico Beretta in 1554.


References

{{Astronomical clocks Renaissance architecture in Brescia Astronomical clocks in Italy Clock towers in Italy