Clock Tower or Torre dell'Oroolgio ( Italian: Torre dell'orologio ) - a building in the northern part of St. Mark's Square in Venice , an architectural monument of the Early Renaissance . One of the most famous sights of the city. The building includes a clock tower and lower buildings on each side. It is adjacent to the eastern tip of the Procuratories . The tower and clock date from the last decade of the 15th century , although subsequently significant changes were also made to the clockwork. The place for the tower was chosen so that the clock was visible from the waters of the lagoon and showed everyone the wealth and glory of Venice. The lower two floors of the tower create a monumental arch leading to the main street of the city, Mercury, which connects the political and religious center (Piazza San Marco) with the commercial and financial center ( Rialto ). Today it is one of 11 places managed by the Public Fund of Museums of Venice.
| Tower | |
| St. Mark's Clock Tower | |
|---|---|
| Torre dell'Orologio | |
 | |
| A country |  Italy |
| City | Venice |
| Architectural style | Early Renaissance |
| Architect | Mauro Coducci |
| Building | 1496 - 1499 years |
| Site | |
Content
General Description
On the terrace at the top of the tower are two large bronze statues, hinged at the waist level, beating the bell. One of them depicts an old man, the other - a young man, in order to show the passage of time; although they are shepherds (they are dressed in sheep's clothing) or giants (figures of large shape and heavy weight, so that they can be recognized from afar), they are also known as the "Moors" because of the dark coating on bronze. The bell is also original and signed by a certain Simeone, who cast it in the Arsenal in 1497 [1] .
Under this floor, on a blue background with golden stars, there is a winged lion with an open book - a symbol of Venice. Initially, there was a statue of Doge Agostino Barbarigo (Doge 1486 - 1501 ), kneeling before a lion, but in 1797 , after the city surrendered to Napoleon , the statue was removed by the French, who cleaned the city of the remains of the old regime [2] .
Still lower is a semicircular gallery with a seated statue of the Virgin with a forged copper baby. On each side there is a blue panel showing the time: the number of hours is shown in Roman numerals on the left, and minutes (in intervals of 5 minutes) are shown in Arabic numerals . Twice a year, on the Epiphany ( January 6 ) and on Ascension (on Thursday, the 40th day after Easter ), in one of the doors, usually occupied by these numbers, three wise men appear, led by an angel with a trumpet, and the procession passes through the gallery bowing to the Mother of God and the Baby before hiding in another door.
Below is a large dial with a blue-gold finish inside a marble circle with Roman numerals engraved on it 24 hours a day. The golden arrow with the image of the sun moves in a circle and shows the time in the hours of the day. Inside the marble rim under the solar arrow are the zodiac signs of gold (dating back to the 1490s), which rotate a little slower than the arrow to show the position of the Sun in the zodiac . In the center of the dial is the Earth , a little further from it is the Moon , which rotates to show its phases, surrounded by stars that are fixed and do not move. Background made of blue enamel. The blue round holes in each of the four corners are not currently in use.
Statues on the terrace
Winged lion with a book
Semicircular Gallery
Seated statue of the Virgin with the Baby u three wise men led by an angel with a trumpet
Large dial
Under the dial is a two-story-high arch, through which the main street called Mercury leaves St. Mark's Square and heads for Rialto. This part of the street is called Merceria dell'Orologio (i.e. hours).
The buildings on each side were separately designed for shops and apartments from the beginning of the 18th century .
On the back of the tower there is another large dial above the arch, which is visible to people walking along the street to the square. This is a simpler watch, also surrounded by a marble rim with 24 hours marked on it, only in two rows of 12 hours each. The solar arrow, indicating the time, is the only moving element of the dial.
Tower and Clock Construction
By 1490, the old clock in the northwestern corner of St. Mark's Church, bearing the name of St. Alipius, was in very poor condition, and in 1493 the Senate decided to build a new clock. The construction of the watch was entrusted to a father and son, Gian Paolo and Gian Carlo Ranieri from Reggio Emilia [3] . In 1495, the Senate decided that a clock-bearing tower should have been erected where Mercury Street leaves the square. To make way, the old buildings were demolished and construction began in 1496 .
According to the style, the tower structure is usually attributed to Mauro Coducci (although without documentary evidence) [4] . Mercury passes through the arch at the foot of the tower. Probably, Coducci borrowed the idea of the project from Alberti's “De re aedificatoria” (“On Construction”), published earlier in the 15th century where he focuses on the importance of towers for the city and the correspondence of the monumental arch to the entrance to the main street of the city [5] .
The name of the sculptor who created the bronze sculptures is still not known exactly. Often they are attributed to Paolo Savin, but an article published in 1984 leads to the conclusion that Antonio Rizzo is the most likely candidate. The statues were cast in bronze by Ambrogio delle Anchor in 1494 [6] .
The tower was built between 1496 and 1497, and the watch mechanism was designed by Ranieri. They spared no money to decorate the tower and clocks; ultramarine and gold leaf were used in large quantities. Even the Moors were gilded [7] . The grand opening of the clock tower was on February 1, 1499 . Marino Sanudo wrote in his diary about this day that the watch was open and presented to the eye for the first time just when the doge left the square and was heading for Vespers in the church of Santa Maria Formosa , adding that it was done very beautifully and with great skill [8] .
Koducci died in 1504 and the outbuildings on the sides of the tower were added in 1506 (possibly to give greater stability in general) [9] . A large engraving on the Barbary tree dating back to 1500 shows the tower just built before annexes were added to it, rising above the 12th-century Procuratories on each side. These Prosecutions were lower than today's buildings, and with only one floor above the arches, so the tower was then the tallest building on that side of the square.
The outbuilding is often attributed to Pietro Lombardo , who later rebuilt the Procurats building on the same side of the square, but the outbuilding does not have much difference and is more likely constructed by Gonella, who was the proto (construction manager) of St. Mark's district [10] . Initially, the outbuildings were two floors lower than today, with roofs at the level of today's terraces [11] . A 1730 Canaletto drawing depicts a tower before another floor was added to the outbuildings. In appearance, then the tower seemed higher than it actually was, and this only gave a magnificent appearance to the building, which served as the entrance to the big city.
By 1500, the eldest Ranieri had died. They agreed that his son should stay in Venice to watch the clock, and he was granted some concessions, which provided him with a good income. He lived in Venice until his death in 1531 [12] .
Tower and Clock Changes
By 1531, after the death of Carlo Ranieri, the watch no longer worked properly. The Council of Ten decided that a person who constantly watches the clock should live in the wing of the tower and be responsible for maintaining the clock in working condition. Later, in 1551, the architect responsible for the square, named Jacopo Sansovino, was commissioned to report on the state of the tower and the clock. Even then, the building needed major repairs, but by 1581 , his son Francesco published a description of Venice, and it seemed that everything was in order.
Shortly before 1663 , the dial was cleaned and the blue and gold colors were “as good as new”. By this time, the procession of the Magi did not take place daily, it took place only on certain holidays and also every hour during the celebration of the Ascension.
By 1750, both the tower and the clock were in urgent need of repair and restoration. In 1751, Giorgio Massari was hired to restore buildings. In 1755, work began on the construction of two additional floors above the roof terraces of both wings. Andrea Camerata succeeded Massari in 1757 . In the same year, eight columns were added to the facade of the lower floor, apparently for added strength.
Restore the watch was appointed Bartolomeo Ferrachina. He made many improvements by changing the principle of movement from the folio to the pendulum system, which was much more accurate. The bands on the dial, previously showing the apparent movement of the planets around the Earth, have been removed. The marble circle, which was marked 24 hours, as now, was covered with a circle showing two rows of 12 hours each, and the Moors also began to ring the bell in the 12-hour cycle, with a special ringing of 132 beats at noon and midnight . These changes were completed by 1757 . Then, Ferrachina drew attention to the mechanism of the procession of the Magi, which had not worked for many years. The new mechanism began to work in 1759 on Ascension. To prevent excessive wear of the mechanism, it began to work only for two weeks after the Ascension.
By 1855, repairs became necessary again. The upper floor of the tower was fortified, and the stairs were replaced with metal. In 1858, Luigi de Lucia repaired and made further changes to the clockwork, while leaving behind the basics of the improvements made by Bartolomeo Ferrecina.
A completely new part was added at this time, so now the clock showed a more accurate time than ever before. Now the panels appeared in the doorways on each side of the statue of the Virgin with the Baby. The left panel showed hours, and the right panel showed minutes (with a change every five minutes), each with white numbers on a blue background. But the numbers blocked the way for the Magi, and soon special mechanisms were developed to raise them. Initially, gas lanterns were located behind them, so the numbers were visible at night. The mechanism controlling the numbers caused problems and did not work properly until 1866 . Other improvements and changes were also made in the years 1865-1866 by Antnio Trevisan and Vincenzo Emo.
Two 12-hour rows remained on the dial until 1900, when the original 24-hour circle was found below them, and they were removed from the tower.
Further adjustments were made in 1953 . Recent changes and improvements have been made (some caused controversy) from 1998 to 2006 (five hundred years later, the time when the tower and clock were first completed).
Visiting the Tower
A steep and narrow staircase inside the building opens onto the roof terrace, passing along the clock mechanism. Guided tours in English, French and Italian must be booked in advance. Only groups of no more than 12 people are allowed into the tower 4 times a day.
Notes
- ↑ Lorenzetti p. 141-142; Honor p. 26
- ↑ Lorenzetti p. 142; Norwich p. 633
- ↑ Lorenzetti p. 141; Tassini p. 463
- ↑ Goy p. 238-239
- ↑ Howard p. 147-148
- ↑ Muraro p. 603
- ↑ Goy p. 237; p.241
- ↑ Sanudo Diary p. 470
- ↑ Howard p. 147-7; Tassini p. 463 and note on p. 750.
- ↑ Goy p. 240. In January 1503, Lombardi delivered materials for construction work to the Doge's Palace, but there is no evidence that he was building anything else; McAndrew c. 394-396.
- ↑ Howard p. 152
- ↑ Goy p. 237-239
Sources
- Lorenzetti, Giulio Venice and its Lagoon. - Trieste, 1975.
- Honour, Hugh The Companion Guide to Venice (2nd Edition). - London, 1977.
- Norwich, John Julius A History of Venice. - Penguin Books, 1983.
- Tassini, Giuseppe Curiosità Veneziane (9th edition). - 1988.
- Goy, Richard J. Building Renaissance Venice. Patrons, Architects & Builders. - Yale UP, 2006.
- Muraro, Michelangelo The Moors of the Clock Tower of Venice and their Sculptor in Art Bulletin (Vol.66). - 1984.
- Sansovino, Francesco . Venetia Città Nobilissima. (Venice. Original edition 1581). 1663 edition with the additions of Martinioni. - Gregg International Publishers Ltd, 1968.