The Borghesi Astronomical Clock in the Museum of History and Technology Part 5

Last Years

There is a break in the story of Borghesi and Bertolla for the next five years. The second clock may have been the last project on which the priest and the clockmaker worked together, for very good reasons. The two clocks must have represented a considerable financial investment in materials and in time, and neither of the men was in sufficiently affluent circ.u.mstances to undertake the luxury of such a hobby without some form of recompense. The publication of the two little volumes must have also been done at Father Borghesi's expense. The income of the parish priest in a small mountain village could not have been equal to the relatively great costs of the projects that had been completed. It seems probable that the priest attempted to sell his clocks to a wealthy patron, perhaps the Baron of Cles, or he may have attempted to obtain some form of recompense for the continuation of his research. However, no records can be found of such patronage if it existed. If Borghesi had received financial a.s.sistance while the projects were in progress, he would certainly have made adequate mention of the patron's name and a.s.sistance in one or the other of the two volumes which he published.[17]

The next record relating to Borghesi which has been found is the description of a letter written by an anonymous mathematician late in 1768 or early in 1769. It was 28 pages in length, written in Latin, in the form of a reply to the writer's brother, on the subject of the clock invented by Borghesi. It consisted primarily of a criticism launched against Borghesi's first little volume published in 1763.

The anonymous letter is without date, place, or signature. This writer claimed that Father Borghesi had made many errors in his book, presumably in the description of the clock's functions, and in the basic theories upon which the priest had predicated his research. No complete copy of the letter's text has been found for study, although it is described at length in Tovazzi's _Biblioteca Tirolese_. Tovazzi noted that four copies of the letter existed at that time, and that he personally had filed one in the Biblioteca di Cles in Trent. However, every attempt to locate a copy at the present time has been unsuccessful.

If the anonymous letter was brought to the attention of Father Borghesi, it must have introduced a disturbing note into his life and cost the priest many unhappy moments. He was not, however, dissuaded from his preoccupation with horology. Several years later, in 1773, Father Borghesi was working on yet another astronomical clock, this time presumably without the a.s.sistance of Bertolla. This third clock was reported by Tovazzi to have been "of minimum expense but of maximum ingenuity."

No subsequent information relating to it has come to light, and there is no record that it was actually completed.

Again there is a period of silence in the life of Father Borghesi which no amount of research has yet been able to pierce. Whatever the circ.u.mstances may have been, it is reported by several of the sources noted that both the first and the second clock did, in fact, become the property of the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna. The presentation was made sometime during the period between the completion of the second clock in 1764 and the year 1780. There is some discrepancy in the contemporary accounts as to whether Father Borghesi presented one or two clocks to the Empress, but all the sources with but one exception record that both clocks were acquired by the Empress.

It is doubtful that Father Borghesi had originally intended to give his clocks to the Empress at the time that they were made, for he would most certainly have made some mention of such an intention in the two little volumes which he published about them. If he saw the letter published by the anonymous mathematician in late 1768 or 1769, it is possible that he decided to make the presentation in expiation of his sense of guilt for the amount of his time which the creation of the timepieces had consumed. On the other hand, it is just as possible that Father Borghesi may have forwarded copies of his two little volumes to the Imperial Court at Vienna, and that the Empress expressed a desire to acquire the clocks.

Father Tovazzi states that in 1780 "the clock invented by him [Borghesi]

was preserved in Vienna, Austria, at the Imperial Court from which the inventor was receiving an annual pension of 400 florins." No records in the Palace archives relating to the clock have yet been found, nor records of payment of an annuity to Father Borghesi. However, a more exhaustive investigation of the Furniture Depository of the Imperial Court may bring forth related records. It was the implication in Father Tovazzi's account that the second clock had been presented to the Empress prior to the publication of the anonymous, critical letter in 1768 or 1769. He believed that it was envy of Father Borghesi's ingenuity, fame and financial benefit that had caused the anonymous mathematician to publish his letter, for Tovazzi asked "Who would have encountered opposition to such a marvel? Envy is not yet dead, and has always reigned."

This last-mentioned theory about the presentation may be the most likely one. Some evidence may be found in the second clock itself which bears out this a.s.sumption. The multiple chapter ring, with its many inscriptions, is engraved and silvered in a relatively crude manner, presumably by Bertolla himself. The main dial plate, however, which is of gilt bra.s.s, is engraved with the utmost skill by one of the great masters of the art. The inscription below the Imperial Hapsburg eagle relates to Francis I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It is entirely possible that although Father Borghesi originally had no intention of giving the clock to the Emperor or the Empress at the time that it was made, he later changed his mind. Accordingly, he may have commissioned a master engraver, possibly in Trent or in Vienna itself, to produce a dial plate which would be of such a quality as to be worthy of the Emperor himself. If so, this was done shortly after the clock was completed, for the Emperor died in August of the following year. Perhaps by the time that the clock was ready, the Emperor had already died, and Father Borghesi gave the clock instead to Maria Theresa without revising the inscription.

The acceptance of the clocks by the Empress, and the annuity which was his reward, would have const.i.tuted considerable honor even for one of the foremost clockmakers of the Empire, but for a humble parish priest in a little village, such notable Imperial recognition was overwhelming.

Possibly as a result of it, a change was noted in Father Borghesi in the next few years. His conscience began to bother him, and he began to question whether he had done right in spending so much of his time and thought on his horological research. He became more and more confused in his own mind. Had he spent too much time in mechanical studies to the neglect of his ecclesiastical duties? If this had been the case, he had committed the most grievous sin.

Exaggerated though these thoughts may appear, they were undoubtedly of the most critical importance to the middle-aged priest. His mental turbulence and confusion increased daily, and it soon became apparent to others around him. By June 1779, he was completely in the grip of his obsession, and his paris.h.i.+oners began to whisper amongst themselves that their pastor was being tortured by the devil. They were unable to help him, and he became more and more preoccupied with his problem. The years pa.s.sed slowly as the pastor became more vague and more tortured by his conscience.[18]

There probably was continued contact between Father Borghesi and Bertolla for at least some time after the development of his illness.

Bertolla had retired from active work, but continued to pursue his interests in his clockshop as much as his health and advanced years permitted. A clock which he made at the age of 80 survives and is described and ill.u.s.trated in the following section on "The Clocks of Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla." Finally, on January 15, 1789, Bertolla pa.s.sed away and Father Borghesi was left alone, deprived of the companions.h.i.+p he had enjoyed with the older man for the past two or three decades. One of Bertolla's nephews continued to work in the master clockmaker's workshop, but there did not appear to be any a.s.sociation between the younger man and Father Borghesi.

At last, in 1794, Father Borghesi lost his sanity completely, and he was forced to relinquish his pastoral duties to a curate. For the remaining eight years of his life, he continued to live in the rectory of the little parish church in Mechel where most of his life had been spent, his needs undoubtedly attended by the paris.h.i.+oners he could no longer serve. During this period, until his death at the age of 79 on June 12, 1802, Father Borghesi lived on, oblivious of those around him.

Seemingly, he retired to another world; perhaps to that universe which he had tried to reproduce in his second clock.

The Clocks of Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla

The ingenuity displayed in the Borghesi clock by its constructor, Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla, requires a consideration of the other examples of his work that have survived. The most important of his clocks are probably the one in the Episcopal Palace at Trent and another made for the Baron of Cles.

The one which survives in the Episcopal Palace to the present time, is extremely tall and is housed in an elaborately decorated narrow case of black or ebonized wood approximately 9 to 10 feet in height. The upper part of the case is decorated with elaborately carved and gilt rococo motifs. The movement operates for one year at a winding, indicates and strikes the hours, and shows the lunar phases. It has an alarm, and will repeat the strike at will, indicating the number of the past hour and the quarters. The gilt bra.s.s dial is decorated with silver-foliated scrollwork in relief at the corners, inside the chapter ring, and within the broken arch. Featured above the chapter ring is the coat of arms, executed in silver, of the patron for whom the clock was made, Cristoforo Sizzo di Noris. Di Noris was Bishop of Trent for 13 years, from 1763 to 1776.

The clock which Bertolla made for the Baron of Cles is a tall, narrow, case clock of ebony or ebonized pearwood which is approximately 9-1/2 feet in height. The decoration of the case is considerably more conservative than the one made for Di Noris, but the black wood is decorated with silver trim and carved designs in the wood itself. The dial is decorated with silver scrollwork and spandrels within and around a raised chapter ring. The clock operates for one month at each winding, has an alarm, indicates and strikes the hours, and will repeat the quarters. This handsome timepiece is still in the possession of the descendants of the Baron of Cles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 21.--TALL-CASE CLOCK BY BERTOLLA in the Episcopal Palace in Trent, made for Bishop Cristoforo Sizzo di Noris. A striking and repeating clock with lunar phases. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 22.--INTERIOR OF BERTOLLA'S WORKSHOP, showing detail of ceiling. (_Courtesy Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 23.--INTERIOR OF BERTOLLA'S WORKSHOP, showing the main workbench and the collection of clockmakers' tools. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 24.--FUSEE CUTTER used by Bertolla. Now in the collection of the Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 25.--INTERIOR OF BERTOLLA'S WORKSHOP, showing details of paneling and floor case with Bertolla ma.n.u.scripts. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

According to Pippa,[19] certain characteristics become apparent in a study of the surviving clocks by Bertolla. The tall-case clocks are narrow and range in height from 7-3/4 feet to 10-1/2 feet. The cases had this excessive height in order to obtain the greatest fall for the month and year movements which Bertolla constructed. For the weight a.s.sembly, he subst.i.tuted a drum wound with a key at the point of the driving wheel in place of the customary pulley. The addition of an intermediate wheel augmented the drop of the weight.

Bertolla's movements were solidly constructed from well-hammered bra.s.s and iron. He favored the recoil anchor escapement in his clocks and the Graham dead-beat anchor escapement with a seconds' pendulum. The escapement was not always placed in the traditional location in the upper center between the plates. Bertolla occasionally displaced the pendulum to one side, to the lower part of the movement or placed it entirely between two other small plates.[20]

He utilized every type of striking work, including the music-box cylinder common in the clocks of the Black Forest and the rack and snail. Bertolla most frequently employed the hour strike and _grand sonnerie_. He often used a single hammer on two bells of different sound with the rack and snail. An example of this type is the clock he produced at the age of 80. To achieve the necessary axis of rotation for the hammer, which is perpendicular to the plate when it strikes the hours, it moves to an oblique position and displaces one of the two long pins in an elongated opening.

Bertolla's dial plates were generally well executed, with a raised or separate chapter ring applied to a bra.s.s or copper plate, such as a copper-plate _repousse_ and gilt with baroque motifs, or upon a smooth bra.s.s plate with spandrels of _repousse_ work usually of silver, in relief and attached. The engraving of the chapter rings was excellent.

The hands were well executed in steel or perforated bronze, and occasionally of _repousse_ copper; gilt was applied to the hands made of forged steel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 26.--DIAL PLATE of a bra.s.s lantern clock made by Bertolla, found in his workshop after his death. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

In the course of time, Bertolla's home workshop pa.s.sed from one generation to another within the family. Inevitably, it underwent many modifications until the only original part of the building that remained intact from Bertolla's time was his clockshop.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 27.--MOVEMENT of a bra.s.s lantern clock made by Bertolla. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

Within the last few years, the workshop room was acquired complete with contents from Bertolla's descendants, and installed in the Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica in Milan as an exhibit of a typical 18th-century clockmaker's shop. The original workshop was dismantled in Mocenigo di Rumo and completely rebuilt in the museum, including the walls, ceiling and floor. The paneling and woodwork of the walls and ceiling, which have been preserved intact, are hand-cut fir, with columns, trim and moldings carved by hand. A small painting is featured in the center of the coffered ceiling. The original shop benches and chests of drawers are set around the reconstructed shop and Bertolla's tools and equipment laid out as they had been originally.

Other clockmaker's tools and equipment in the museum's collection are also displayed. Approximately 40 percent of the tools are the original items from Bertolla's shop. Parts of clocks and works in progress are on view on the benches as they were in Bertolla's time.[21] Also preserved in the museum are sketches found in Bertolla's ma.n.u.scripts, some of which are reproduced on the following pages.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 28.--DETAIL OF WALL of Bertolla's workshop, with regulatory clock made by his nephew, Alessandro Bertolla of Venice. Note wheel layouts, etc., scribed in the paneling. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 29.--TABLE CLOCK BY BERTOLLA in the collection of Doctor Vittorio dal Lago of Bergamo. The dial indicates the days of the week and of the month, the names of the months and lunar phases. The clock strikes the hours and quarters and repeats. (_Courtesy of Sig.

Luigi Pippa of Milan._)]

The shop contains two completed clocks made by Bertolla. One is a weight-driven lantern clock typical of the 18th century, Italian style with bra.s.s dial, plates and posts, anchor escapement, and striking work. The dial is engraved in the usual style of Bertolla's baroque design, and the hands are of pierced bronze. Another clock a.s.sociated with Bertolla and found in the shop, was made by his nephew, Alessandro Bertolla, who worked in Venice after his apprentices.h.i.+p with his uncle had been completed. This clock is a regulator with a seconds' pendulum and sweep hand on an enameled dial. The original case has not survived.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 30.--LAYOUT OF THE WHEELWORK of a clock made by Bertolla for His Excellency Paulo Dona, inscribed "Design No. 1."

(_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 31.--PENDULUM ARRANGEMENT SKETCH for an unidentified clock found in Bertolla's workshop. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 32.--STRIKING CLOCK SKETCH found in Bertolla's ma.n.u.scripts. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 33.--FIFTEEN-DAY STRIKING CLOCK SKETCH, inscribed "Design No. 3," found in Bertolla's workshop. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 34.--DIAL PLATE of a bra.s.s lantern clock made by Bertolla at the age of 80. (_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 35.--MOVEMENT of bra.s.s lantern clock produced by Bertolla at the age of 80, showing details of movement and double bell.

(_Courtesy of Museo n.a.z.ionale della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]