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Night Clock (Back of clock, pre-conservation)

Giovanni Battista Foggini, Massimiliano Soldani Benzi

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

Night clocks were designed to indicate the hours with a dial illuminated from behind with an oil lamp. In this way, the numbers would have been visible in a dark or dimly lighted room. They never became very popular, however, as keeping the lamp alight through the night required constant care, either by refueling or trimming the wick.

This timepiece was a collaborative effort of several of the most skilled artists who worked for the Medici family in Florence, including Leonard van der Vinne and Giovanni Battista Foggini. In addition, the statue of the boar mounted on the top may have been modeled by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi, based on a classical marble statue in the Uffizi. The clock's architectural shape copies the form of church altarpieces, while its elaborate stone decoration includes both flat scrolls in mosaics and innovative three-dimensional fruit garlands at the sides. The mechanism was created by Francesco Papillion.

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  • Title: Night Clock (Back of clock, pre-conservation)
  • Creator: Giovanni Battista Foggini, Leonard van der Vinne, Galleria de'Lavori in pietre dure, Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, Francesco Papillion
  • Date Created: 1704–1705
  • Location Created: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
  • Physical Dimensions: 95 × 63 × 28 cm, 25.4014 kg (37 3/8 × 24 13/16 × 11 in., 56 lb.)
  • Type: Clock
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Ebony, gilt bronze, and semiprecious stones including chalcedony, jasper, lapis lazuli, and verde d'Arno
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 97.DB.37
  • Culture: Italian
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Case and hardstone mosaics by Giovanni Battista Foggini (Italian, 1652 - 1725) Woodwork by Leonard van der Vinne (Flemish, active Italy 1659 - died 1713) in the Galleria de'Lavori in pietre dure (Italian, founded 1588) Bronze figures attributed to Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (Italian, 1656 - 1740) Mechanism by Francesco Papillion (Italian, active around 1700)
  • Classification: Decorative Art (Art Genre)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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