251
and professor of physics, had asked Secchi to design a sundial. According to Moroni,
there the astronomer “created a small observatory with a beautiful sundial.”
17
Today there is no trace of the instrument in the De Magistris building, the current
seat of the Town Hall; this is perhaps due to the restoration work to which the building has been subjected.
18
15.4.2 Boville Ernica Sundial (1865)
In Piazza San Angelo di Bauco, now Boville Ernica (in the province of Frosinone),
one can see a sundial on the ancient bell tower of the church of San Sebastiano,
adjacent to the college of San Michele Arcangelo. The hour lines on the dial plate,
made directly on the plaster, are partially faded; these are what remains following a
restoration carried out in 1996
19
aimed at recovering the original lines calculated in
1865 by Fr. Secchi and on which the astronomer Giuseppe Armellini, who was fond
of the place, would have made some adjustments about a century later.
Confirmation of the attribution of the instrument to the Jesuit astronomer can be
found in a publication on the Benedictine monastery of St. John the Baptist:
The chronicles of the time that were found there [in the castle Filonardi, now a monastery],
although sporadic, make note of eminent scholars of the Society of Jesus such as Fr. Secchi,
the famous astronomer, who made the sundial, which was touched up around 1950 by
another famous astronomer, Prof. Giuseppe Armellini.
20
Post-restoration photos show two morning and six afternoon time lines, in accord
with its setting on the southwest wall. The sundial marks the local solar time according to the European system, with a gnomon parallel to the Earth’s (polar) axis.
Calendar lines are limited to solstices and equinoxes.
The 1996 restoration involved some additions: daylight saving time marked
along the line of the summer solstice, a graph of the equation of the time under the
path of the shadow, a motto, and the inscription: “P. A. Secchi fecit A.D. 1865 –
G. Armellini correxit A.D. 1950 – N. Severino restauravit A.D. 1996. (Fr. A. Secchi
made it, AD 1865 – G. Armellini corrected it AD 1950 – N. Severino restored it
AD 1996).”
17 Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica (Dictionary of Ecclesiastical
History Studies), 1854.
18 This recent information was provided by Mrs. Anna Rita Pernasili and Dr. Giuseppe Anelli,
officials of the Library and the Historical Archive of Sezze, respectively; great thanks to each.
19 The restoration was carried out by Mr. Nicola Severino, scholar of the history of gnomonics.
20 G. Straw, Il monastero benedettino di S. Giovanni Battista in Bovill e Ernica e i suoi 350 anni di
vita, (The First 350 Years of the Benedictine Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Bovill and Ernica)
Casamari 1980, p. 98. We sincerely thank Fr. Giovanni Magnante, pastor-archpriest of Boville
Ernica, for having kindly identified and made available the documentary reference.
15 Angelo Secchi and the Measurement of Time
and professor of physics, had asked Secchi to design a sundial. According to Moroni,
there the astronomer “created a small observatory with a beautiful sundial.”
17
Today there is no trace of the instrument in the De Magistris building, the current
seat of the Town Hall; this is perhaps due to the restoration work to which the building has been subjected.
18
15.4.2 Boville Ernica Sundial (1865)
In Piazza San Angelo di Bauco, now Boville Ernica (in the province of Frosinone),
one can see a sundial on the ancient bell tower of the church of San Sebastiano,
adjacent to the college of San Michele Arcangelo. The hour lines on the dial plate,
made directly on the plaster, are partially faded; these are what remains following a
restoration carried out in 1996
19
aimed at recovering the original lines calculated in
1865 by Fr. Secchi and on which the astronomer Giuseppe Armellini, who was fond
of the place, would have made some adjustments about a century later.
Confirmation of the attribution of the instrument to the Jesuit astronomer can be
found in a publication on the Benedictine monastery of St. John the Baptist:
The chronicles of the time that were found there [in the castle Filonardi, now a monastery],
although sporadic, make note of eminent scholars of the Society of Jesus such as Fr. Secchi,
the famous astronomer, who made the sundial, which was touched up around 1950 by
another famous astronomer, Prof. Giuseppe Armellini.
20
Post-restoration photos show two morning and six afternoon time lines, in accord
with its setting on the southwest wall. The sundial marks the local solar time according to the European system, with a gnomon parallel to the Earth’s (polar) axis.
Calendar lines are limited to solstices and equinoxes.
The 1996 restoration involved some additions: daylight saving time marked
along the line of the summer solstice, a graph of the equation of the time under the
path of the shadow, a motto, and the inscription: “P. A. Secchi fecit A.D. 1865 –
G. Armellini correxit A.D. 1950 – N. Severino restauravit A.D. 1996. (Fr. A. Secchi
made it, AD 1865 – G. Armellini corrected it AD 1950 – N. Severino restored it
AD 1996).”
17 Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica (Dictionary of Ecclesiastical
History Studies), 1854.
18 This recent information was provided by Mrs. Anna Rita Pernasili and Dr. Giuseppe Anelli,
officials of the Library and the Historical Archive of Sezze, respectively; great thanks to each.
19 The restoration was carried out by Mr. Nicola Severino, scholar of the history of gnomonics.
20 G. Straw, Il monastero benedettino di S. Giovanni Battista in Bovill e Ernica e i suoi 350 anni di
vita, (The First 350 Years of the Benedictine Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Bovill and Ernica)
Casamari 1980, p. 98. We sincerely thank Fr. Giovanni Magnante, pastor-archpriest of Boville
Ernica, for having kindly identified and made available the documentary reference.
15 Angelo Secchi and the Measurement of Time