Faculty |

Photographs of early modern printed-paper sundials

Photographs of early modern printed-paper sundials

Georg Brentel the Younger, from <i>Pamphlet describing the construction and function of a conical sundial,</i> Lauingen: Jacob Winter, 1615. Pamphlet with engravings and woodcuts.
Side view of the facsimile made by the Harvard Art Museum
View from above of the facsimile made by the Harvard Art Museum
Georg Brentel the Younger, from <i>Pamphlet describing the construction and function of a cylindrical sundial,</i> Lauingen: Jacob Winter, 1615. Pamphlet with engravings and woodcuts.
Facsimile made by the Harvard Art Museum
A polyhedral sundial of gilt brass, c. 1521–1530, attributed to Nicolaus Kratzer, part of the exhibit <Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe,</i> now on view at the Sackler Museum

These Photographs show seventeenth-century printed-paper sundials—the detailed engravings include instructions for building the finished products, created in this case by curators at the Sackler Museum. As Jennifer Carling and Jonathan Shaw point out in “Spheres of Knowledge,” from the November-December 2011 issue, sundials would have allowed traveling merchants not only to tell time, but also to convert among the three different time-telling systems of the day as they traveled from one region to another. 

Related topics
Humanities
Science
Faculty
Museums & Collections
Visual Arts
Arts & Culture

You might also like

Eating for the Holidays, the Planet, and Your Heart

“Sustainable eating,” and healthy recipes you can prepare for the holidays.

Five Questions with Michèle Duguay

A Harvard scholar of music theory on how streaming services have changed the experience of music

Harvard Faculty Discuss Tenure Denials

New data show a shift in when, in the process, rejections occur

Most popular

Harvard Faculty Group Proposes Limits on A Grades

The grade inflation measure requires a full faculty vote, expected in the spring.

Forrest Gander and Theda Skocpol at Phi Beta Kappa Exercises

Both poet and orator consider the “fundamental threats” facing graduates as Commencement begins.

Regenerative Biology’s Baby Steps

What axolotl salamanders could teach us about limb regrowth

House - Email

Explore More From Current Issue

An image depicting high carb ultra processed foods, those which are often associated with health risks

Research

Is Ultraprocessed Food Really That Bad?

A Harvard professor challenges conventional wisdom. 

An axolotl with a pale body and pink frilly gills, looking directly at the viewer.

Research

Regenerative Biology’s Baby Steps

What axolotl salamanders could teach us about limb regrowth

A girl sits at a desk, flanked by colorful, stylized figures, evoking a whimsical, surreal atmosphere.

Undergraduate Column

The Trouble with Sidechat

No one feels responsible for what happens on Harvard’s anonymous social media app.