263
maintained together with a supply of timber so as to be immediately prepared in the
event of future seismic events.
1
They also proposed the construction of a new township whose houses be assigned to the poorest, on payment of a modest annual rent,
as their wretched dwellings had been found to be of the lowest architectural quality
and completely unrecoverable (Giacchè 2018).
The physicist and the architect then continued collaborating to draft a new
municipal building code which, after being discussed in the Council of Ministers,
was approved by decree of the sovereign pontiff Pius IX on April 18, 1860. The new
code and project were never implemented, however, due to the annexation of
Umbria to the Kingdom of Italy, which took place during the summer of that same
year
2
(Fig. 16.2).
16.3 The Protection of Monuments from Lightning
(1860–1875)
Luigi Poletti, who had been directing the reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Paul
Outside the Walls since 1833, met Father Secchi in Norcia during the final phases of
the construction of the new bell tower of the basilica. He needed to design a lightning rod system to protect the entire building and, of course, he turned to Father
Secchi, with whom he had established a reciprocal relationship of great esteem and
trust.
3
The system designed by Secchi consisted of five metal bars, and it was built
between November 1860 and February 1861 in the Luswergh workshops, at Porta
Pia, in Rome.
After the successful completion of the installation of these lightning rods, on
May 8, 1862, Father Secchi received a request from Pier Domenico
Costantini- Baldini, Minister of Public Works, Industry, Agriculture, Commerce and
Fine Arts, to express an opinion about protecting the pyramid of Caius Cestius with
an electrical conductor; it had been damaged by lightning in 1861. Father Secchi
agreed to the proposed solution of a lightning rod which could be installed without
damaging the monument. He described a system by which the rod could be anchored
to the top of the pyramid and outlined the path of the electrical conductor with a
1 (ASRm, Ministero dell’Interno, b. 462, fasc. “Terremoto di Norcia 1859”)
2 (ASPg, Commissariato generale straordinario delle province dell’Umbria, Corrispondenza, b. 1:
“Relazione sul terremoto di Norcia,” 22 agosto 1859. “Sui più urgenti bisogni dei Comuni,” rapporto del vice-commissariato di Norcia. 4 novembre-19 dicembre 1860; Abbondanza 1962: 26)
3 (ASRm, Commissione speciale deputata alla ricostruzione della Basilica di San Paolo, b. 55,
fasc. L: “Rapporto sulle spranghe elettriche per la Basilica di S. Paolo” [“Report on electric bars
for the Basilica of St. Paul”], 23 settembre 1860. Modena, Biblioteca Luigi Poletti, Fondo Poletti,
C/109 – LP. XII-6, doc. n. 107: project and contract for the installation of lightning rods, 20
nov.1860. Thanks to Maria Elisa Della Casa for reporting documents. Calzolari and Marsella
2018a: 32–33. Calzolari and Marsella 2018b: 443).
16 Secchi’s Science in the Service of the Public
maintained together with a supply of timber so as to be immediately prepared in the
event of future seismic events.
1
They also proposed the construction of a new township whose houses be assigned to the poorest, on payment of a modest annual rent,
as their wretched dwellings had been found to be of the lowest architectural quality
and completely unrecoverable (Giacchè 2018).
The physicist and the architect then continued collaborating to draft a new
municipal building code which, after being discussed in the Council of Ministers,
was approved by decree of the sovereign pontiff Pius IX on April 18, 1860. The new
code and project were never implemented, however, due to the annexation of
Umbria to the Kingdom of Italy, which took place during the summer of that same
year
2
(Fig. 16.2).
16.3 The Protection of Monuments from Lightning
(1860–1875)
Luigi Poletti, who had been directing the reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Paul
Outside the Walls since 1833, met Father Secchi in Norcia during the final phases of
the construction of the new bell tower of the basilica. He needed to design a lightning rod system to protect the entire building and, of course, he turned to Father
Secchi, with whom he had established a reciprocal relationship of great esteem and
trust.
3
The system designed by Secchi consisted of five metal bars, and it was built
between November 1860 and February 1861 in the Luswergh workshops, at Porta
Pia, in Rome.
After the successful completion of the installation of these lightning rods, on
May 8, 1862, Father Secchi received a request from Pier Domenico
Costantini- Baldini, Minister of Public Works, Industry, Agriculture, Commerce and
Fine Arts, to express an opinion about protecting the pyramid of Caius Cestius with
an electrical conductor; it had been damaged by lightning in 1861. Father Secchi
agreed to the proposed solution of a lightning rod which could be installed without
damaging the monument. He described a system by which the rod could be anchored
to the top of the pyramid and outlined the path of the electrical conductor with a
1 (ASRm, Ministero dell’Interno, b. 462, fasc. “Terremoto di Norcia 1859”)
2 (ASPg, Commissariato generale straordinario delle province dell’Umbria, Corrispondenza, b. 1:
“Relazione sul terremoto di Norcia,” 22 agosto 1859. “Sui più urgenti bisogni dei Comuni,” rapporto del vice-commissariato di Norcia. 4 novembre-19 dicembre 1860; Abbondanza 1962: 26)
3 (ASRm, Commissione speciale deputata alla ricostruzione della Basilica di San Paolo, b. 55,
fasc. L: “Rapporto sulle spranghe elettriche per la Basilica di S. Paolo” [“Report on electric bars
for the Basilica of St. Paul”], 23 settembre 1860. Modena, Biblioteca Luigi Poletti, Fondo Poletti,
C/109 – LP. XII-6, doc. n. 107: project and contract for the installation of lightning rods, 20
nov.1860. Thanks to Maria Elisa Della Casa for reporting documents. Calzolari and Marsella
2018a: 32–33. Calzolari and Marsella 2018b: 443).
16 Secchi’s Science in the Service of the Public