Clockwork Cosmos: Bernardo Facini and the Farnese Planisferologio by Silvio A. Bedini

Abstract

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 289 Dr. Hollister-Short is honorary lecturer in the history of technology in the De­ partment of Humanities at Imperial College of Science and Technology. He is com­ pleting a history of the Stangenkunst (rod engine). Clockwork Cosmos: Bernardo Facini and the Farnese Planisferologio. By Sil­ vio A. Bedini. Citta del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1985. Pp. 223; illustrations, notes, appendixes, bibliography, index. L 40,000.00 +handling (paper). The “Planisferologio” devised and built by Bernardo Facini is, after the 16th-century masterpieces of Juanelo Turriano, the most impor­ tant clock made south of the Alps. Having said this, one should qualify the statement. The term “Planisferologio” was created by Facini to distinguish his own masterpiece and means an exposition of the ce­ lestial sphere on a flat surface. The word “clock” is used here in its widest acceptation, meaning those astronomical machines that sci­ entifically represent the universe and that became more elaborate and accurate with the passing of the centuries. The attribution of both the project and the making of the Planisferologio to the genius and man­ ual skill of Facini alone can now safely be made, thanks to the brilliant and painstaking labors of Silvio A. Bedini. Bedini’s contributions to the studies of science and technology are far-reaching and widely known. In Clockwork Cosmos, his particular interest in Italian developments has led to a full understanding of both the historical and scientific context of Facini and his clock. This book is so eminently readable that the lay reader risks overlooking the specific information contained therein. Part of it is new and con­ clusive about a significant point in the history of horology. For two and a half centuries, in fact, doubts surrounded the true authorship of the Planisferologio. Bernardo Facini (1665—1731) was an instrument maker at a time when clockmaking was already a specialized and exclusive profession in most European centers. He was born in Venice and worked there for the greater part of his life. He had working connections with Vincenzo Coronelli, the celebrated cosmographer and globe maker fifteen years his senior. Facini must have learned a great deal while attending a workshop that had knowledgeable customers. In about 1697, he and Coronelli produced a nautical compendium now in the Hermitage. At least another twelve scientific instruments signed by Facini have survived. They are of various types, in part of original design; no two are alike. They denote the mathematical inclination and the inventiveness of their maker. It is not known whether Facini also made ordinary instruments in order to earn a living. He does not appear to have been a prolific maker—not a single clock or watch signed by him is known except for the Planisferologio. 290 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE However ingenious and original his scientific instruments, Facini would not have ranked as high as he does if, in about 1715-16, he had not come across a remarkable astronomical clock made more than thirty years earlier. Its maker, Bartolomeo Ferrari from Bologna, had created the word “Sferologio” for his machine and in 1683 had pub­ lished a booklet with explanations about it. In this he freely acknowl­ edged his debt to Geminiano Montanari, a professor at the University of Bologna and later Padua, for the mathematical and astronomical information he had used. This significant but straightforward event was the origin of the confusion that puzzled a number of scholars both in Italy and abroad until the publication of Bedini’s book. In about 1716—17, Facini undertook to restore Ferrari’s Sferologio at Piacenza. It was now owned by Francesco I Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza. The restoration work took about three years, during which time Facini must have profited from the mechanical and sci­ entific results of the Ferrari and Montanari achievement and from the booklet on the Sferologio that was also at his disposal. Then Facini was appointed mechanician to the duchess. He saw the opportunity to develop an ambitious project about an astronomical clock of his own, far more complicated than the one he had just restored and embodying many new horological inventions. Facini had in mind attempts to...