Epact Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

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Polyhedral Dial
Signed by Stefano Buonsignori
16th century; Florence
Wood; 205 mm in height

This table sundial, which is of polyhedral form, has eighteen decorated and painted faces. The hour lines are inscribed on every face in a different manner, corresponding to a different type of dial: horizontal, vertical, declining, etc. In use the instrument was oriented with the help of the compass.

The instrument is signed 'DSF', and the style in which it is made is typical of Stefano Buonsignori, Olivetan Friar and cosmographer at the court of Francesco I de' Medici.

Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze
Inventory no. 2458

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