Florentine cubical sundial

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Cubical sundial
Manufacturer	(unknown)
Production years	1560
Production location	Florence

A Florentine instrument made about 1560; it is of wood painted in distemper with arabesques. The cube has dials with short styles on five of its faces.

[edit] How it works

The dials on the north and south faces indicate the time in old Italian hours, in which the system of the day was divided into 24 hours beginning and ending at sunset, while the top dial shows Babylonian hours in which the day similarly consisted of 24 hours beginning at sunrise. The east and west dials indicate the time in ancient Jewish system in which the periods from sunrise to sunset and sunset to sunrise were each divided into 12 hours, the length of which depended upon the time of year and also upon whether the hours of day or of night were being recorded. The instrument shown is for latitude 460. It was formerly in the Pitti Palace, Florence.

[edit] Memories

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[edit] In the Science Museum's Records

Inv. No: 1883-128