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Portrait of Caterina Balbi Durazzo
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Night clock
Portrait of Caterina Balbi Durazzo
Crucified Christ
Charity of St. Lawrence
Sibyl Samia
application
Rape of Proserpina
Bacchus
Fight between Perseus and Phineus
Dead Christ mourned by two angels
Portrait of Giovanni Luca Durazzo
Rape of Proserpina
Adonis
Christ at the column
Dionysus
Bust of Flora
Jupiter and Astrea
The torture of Prometheus
The Triumph of Bacchus
The fame of the Balbi
Putties
Putties
Become a danzanti
Secretary
Mantel clock
The impiety of Niobe
Consol
Night clock

Night clock

Anonymous

Displayed in:

Royal Palace Museum

Royal Palace Museum

Via Balbi, 10, Genoa

Closed today: open tomorrow at 09:00

Verified profile

The presence of this rare example of a night clock refers to the singular episode concerning its conception. Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667), who suffered from insomnia and could not stand the ticking of the clock in his bedroom, commissioned the Campani brothers to make a silent and legible clock even in the middle of the night thanks to the creation of a openwork dial which was illuminated at the rear by a small oil lamp or a candle. Having completed a first prototype in 1656, Pietro Tommaso Campani took it to the pope to show it to him, and such was the satisfaction with the invention that he granted him a patent. Generally the clock was dark in color, made of ebony or other ebonized woods, in some cases, for the most important creations, it was decorated with polychrome inserts of hard stone. The altar structure culminated with a pediment flanked by volutes and featured a central copper front panel, often painted with subjects of inspiration alluding to the passage of time and life or religious. The latter was frequently surrounded by decorative columns or pilasters.
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Details

Title: Night clock

Author: Anonymous

Date: XVII

Technique: Wood

Displayed in: Royal Palace Museum

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