Instruments · Nocturnal
Nocturnal, France, 1554
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1554
- Historical period
- Renaissance Horology (1400 – 1600)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- French
- Object type
- Nocturnal
- Materials / technique
- gilt brass
- Dimensions
- diameter 54 mm
- Holding institution
- Museo Galileo, Florence
- Accession / object no.
- Inv. 2501
- Credit line
- Museo Galileo, Florence
- Catalogue title (original)
- Nocturnal (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Museo Galileo, Florence (object number Inv. 2501), this is a nocturnal, made in French, France, dated 1554. The Atlas places it in the Renaissance Horology period (1400 – 1600) of its Instruments collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gilt brass. Recorded dimensions: diameter 54 mm. The record is illustrated with 2 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Catalogue description — Museo Galileo
The instrument consists of two superposed disks of different diameters. Part of the circumference of the smaller disk is toothed and fitted with a short index. On the disks is mounted a long, finely decorated index. The front of the instrument served as a nocturnal for determining the time from the positions of the stars. The front also carries the zodiac signs, the initials of the names of the months, and the hour markings. On the back is the sundial, complete with a folding gnomon, for telling time during the day. The back also displays the date (1554).
Historical context
Renaissance Horology (1400 – 1600)
Spring power makes clocks portable; Nuremberg and Augsburg produce the first watches; the Prague Orloj is built.
Instrument-making flourished in Nuremberg, Augsburg, Louvain and London: ivory diptych dials, astronomical compendia, astrolabes and nocturnals for wealthy patrons, navigators and scholars.
Read the period in the timelineMore instruments from this periodEarlier: Medieval Period
Atlas type guide
Nocturnals
A nocturnal tells the time at night from the rotation of the stars around the celestial pole. The user sights Polaris through the central hole and turns a long pointer to align with the 'guard' stars of the Little Bear or the 'pointers' of the Great Bear. A calendar scale set to the date converts that angle to the hour.
Nocturnals were used from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century by navigators and travellers. Many are made of boxwood or brass, with tactile teeth on the hour disc so that the time can be counted in the dark.
What to look for
- A central sighting hole and a long index arm.
- Engraved letters such as 'B' (Bear) or 'BB' indicating which constellation to use.
- Teeth on the hour disc with a longer tooth for midnight.
Dating clues
- Most surviving nocturnals date from about 1550 to 1750.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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