"The sundial in the shape of a prosciutto recovered in 1755 in the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum is the earliest known Roman portable sundial. Its silver-plated cast bronze form cleverly combines an accurate modelling of a prosciutto with a relatively sophisticated scientific device capable o...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Bibliographische Detailangaben

1. Verfasser:	Parslow, Christopher Charles (VerfasserIn)
Format:	Buch
Sprache:	English
Veröffentlicht:	New York, NY Oxford University Press [2024]
Schlagworte:	Sonnenuhr Villa der Pisonen > Herculaneum Sundials / Italy / Herculaneum (Extinct city) Villa of the Papyri (Herculaneum) Excavations (Archaeology) / Italy / Herculaneum (Extinct city) Villa des Papyrus (Herculanum) Fouilles (Archéologie) / Italie / Herculanum (Ville ancienne)
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Zusammenfassung:	"The sundial in the shape of a prosciutto recovered in 1755 in the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum is the earliest known Roman portable sundial. Its silver-plated cast bronze form cleverly combines an accurate modelling of a prosciutto with a relatively sophisticated scientific device capable of capturing the seasonal hours of the zodiacal year by employing the pig's tail to cast the sun's shadow onto the dial. The discovery of this curious object immediately sparked the imagination of the international scholarly community eager for knowledge about the finds being recovered in the cities buried by Vesuvius and determined to circumvent a strict prohibition against publication of the artifacts maintained by the Bourbon court in Naples. The prosciutto proved easier to describe than to explain, a trait that has shadowed the many attempts since its discovery to decipher how it functioned as a sundial." "Limited first-hand knowledge of it led to odd and erroneous notions retailed in the earliest widely circulated descriptions. Although the Bourbon court quickly sought to assert its authority through a detailed philological and astronomical assessment, analyzed in depth here for the first time, the proverbial pig already had escaped the pen. Earlier errors and misconceptions continued to be recycled and compounded even by leading figures in eighteenth and nineteenth century astronomy and these colored subsequent treatments by horologists and others attracted by its unusual form. It is a rare example of an antiquity that has attracted the attention of so broad an audience, from archaeologists, art historians, and philologists to astronomers, philosophers, and sundial aficionados." "This study draws on contemporary correspondence and manuscripts, travelogues, popular accounts, archaeological studies, and scientific and horological assessments to offer the first comprehensive survey of its reception and analysis from its discovery to modern times. The significance of its discovery in the Villa dei Papiri is explored here in detail for the first time. Through the findings obtained using a 3D model it offers the first empirical analysis since the initial assessment by the Bourbon court of the prosciutto's remarkably accurate capabilities as a timepiece."
Beschreibung:	xvi, 345 Seiten Illustrationen, Karten, Pläne (2 farbig) 24,3 cm
ISBN:	9780197749388